Navajo, Southwest
Circa 1900
Ingot silver, turquoise, leather
Seven conchos, each 3 inches by 3 1/2 inches (7.6 by 8.9 cm)
Buckle 2 1/4 inches by 3 inches (5.7 by 7.6 cm)
Belt length 37 inches (94 cm)
733.17 grams
Provenance: Robert Nooter, Washington, DC
The belt carries seven oval conchos on the original black leather strap, each raised in repoussé with a domed center and radiating lobes, framed by twisted wire and a deeply scalloped edge worked with rows of chisel and dot stamping. The buckle is squared and scalloped, its face filled with elongated raised lobes flowing outward from the open center, and set with four oval turquoise cabochons in blue with brown matrix at the corners. The silver is ingot, hammered from cast bar rather than rolled from sheet, and its uneven thickness and soft surface undulation distinguish it from later machine rolled stock.
Second phase construction is visible on the reverse, where a soldered copper bar carries the leather behind each concho. This was the change that defined the phase: with the leather no longer passing through a slot in the center of the plaque, the entire face of the concho was freed for design. The copper bars have taken a green patina against the leather, consistent with a century of contact.
The belt comes from the collection of Robert Nooter, author of Old Silver Jewelry of the Southwest and among the most respected collectors in the field. At 733 grams the belt is heavy and the conchos at three and a half inches are large for the period, qualities that would have drawn a collector of his standing. Belts of this kind were made as wearable wealth, held as savings and worn on occasions of consequence, and the weight of silver carried on the body was itself the statement.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Navajo, Southwest
Circa 1900
Ingot silver, turquoise, leather
Seven conchos, each 3 inches by 3 1/2 inches (7.6 by 8.9 cm)
Buckle 2 1/4 inches by 3 inches (5.7 by 7.6 cm)
Belt length 37 inches (94 cm)
733.17 grams
Provenance: Robert Nooter, Washington, DC
The belt carries seven oval conchos on the original black leather strap, each raised in repoussé with a domed center and radiating lobes, framed by twisted wire and a deeply scalloped edge worked with rows of chisel and dot stamping. The buckle is squared and scalloped, its face filled with elongated raised lobes flowing outward from the open center, and set with four oval turquoise cabochons in blue with brown matrix at the corners. The silver is ingot, hammered from cast bar rather than rolled from sheet, and its uneven thickness and soft surface undulation distinguish it from later machine rolled stock.
Second phase construction is visible on the reverse, where a soldered copper bar carries the leather behind each concho. This was the change that defined the phase: with the leather no longer passing through a slot in the center of the plaque, the entire face of the concho was freed for design. The copper bars have taken a green patina against the leather, consistent with a century of contact.
The belt comes from the collection of Robert Nooter, author of Old Silver Jewelry of the Southwest and among the most respected collectors in the field. At 733 grams the belt is heavy and the conchos at three and a half inches are large for the period, qualities that would have drawn a collector of his standing. Belts of this kind were made as wearable wealth, held as savings and worn on occasions of consequence, and the weight of silver carried on the body was itself the statement.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
