Navajo
American Southwest
1920s
Sterling silver
Height 1 3/4 inches, width 2 1/2 inches, 42.76 grams
Provenance: Larry Frank, Taos, New Mexico
This sand cast buckle is worked entirely in sterling silver with a symmetrical openwork design and no set stone. Curling arms sweep outward from the center, each carrying rows of file stamped notches that read as short chevron and line marks across the raised silver. Pointed petal shaped elements rise at the top and bottom and meet a raised bar at the middle, dividing the face into four open quadrants. The silver holds the soft molten contours characteristic of sand casting, with a darkened patina settled into the recesses and along the stamped lines. The reverse retains its original hook and bar belt hardware and is inscribed by hand.
Larry Frank was a collector and scholar of Southwestern and Spanish Colonial art based in Taos, New Mexico. He was the co-author of Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest, 1868 to 1930, published in 1978, and New Kingdom of the Saints: Religious Art of New Mexico, 1780 to 1907, published in 1992, both standard references in their fields.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Navajo
American Southwest
1920s
Sterling silver
Height 1 3/4 inches, width 2 1/2 inches, 42.76 grams
Provenance: Larry Frank, Taos, New Mexico
This sand cast buckle is worked entirely in sterling silver with a symmetrical openwork design and no set stone. Curling arms sweep outward from the center, each carrying rows of file stamped notches that read as short chevron and line marks across the raised silver. Pointed petal shaped elements rise at the top and bottom and meet a raised bar at the middle, dividing the face into four open quadrants. The silver holds the soft molten contours characteristic of sand casting, with a darkened patina settled into the recesses and along the stamped lines. The reverse retains its original hook and bar belt hardware and is inscribed by hand.
Larry Frank was a collector and scholar of Southwestern and Spanish Colonial art based in Taos, New Mexico. He was the co-author of Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest, 1868 to 1930, published in 1978, and New Kingdom of the Saints: Religious Art of New Mexico, 1780 to 1907, published in 1992, both standard references in their fields.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
