Navajo, Southwest
2015
Sterling silver, leather
Buckle 2 inches by 3 inches (5.1 by 7.6 cm)
Belt length 46 inches (116.8 cm)
293.3 grams
Provenance: Private collection, Las Cruces, New Mexico
The belt carries a series of octagonal silver plaques mounted on a dark leather strap, each worked in repoussé with a narrative scene of figures at work and at gathering, set against a stippled ground and framed by a zigzag stamped border. The scenes read as continuous across the belt, with figures shown weaving, tending fires, and standing among plants and livestock, the silver raised from behind so that each figure stands proud of the field. Storyteller work of this kind depends on the smith building the scene entirely from the reverse before finishing the detail with chisels and stamps on the face.
Benjamin Becenti is a Navajo silversmith known for storyteller work, in which scenes of daily life are raised in repoussé across conchos, buckles, and bracelets. The form demands both metalworking control and compositional judgment, since each plaque must stand as a scene in itself while carrying the sequence forward. At nearly 300 grams the belt is heavy, and the plaques are worked in matched octagonal panels along its full length.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Navajo, Southwest
2015
Sterling silver, leather
Buckle 2 inches by 3 inches (5.1 by 7.6 cm)
Belt length 46 inches (116.8 cm)
293.3 grams
Provenance: Private collection, Las Cruces, New Mexico
The belt carries a series of octagonal silver plaques mounted on a dark leather strap, each worked in repoussé with a narrative scene of figures at work and at gathering, set against a stippled ground and framed by a zigzag stamped border. The scenes read as continuous across the belt, with figures shown weaving, tending fires, and standing among plants and livestock, the silver raised from behind so that each figure stands proud of the field. Storyteller work of this kind depends on the smith building the scene entirely from the reverse before finishing the detail with chisels and stamps on the face.
Benjamin Becenti is a Navajo silversmith known for storyteller work, in which scenes of daily life are raised in repoussé across conchos, buckles, and bracelets. The form demands both metalworking control and compositional judgment, since each plaque must stand as a scene in itself while carrying the sequence forward. At nearly 300 grams the belt is heavy, and the plaques are worked in matched octagonal panels along its full length.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
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