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An extremely rare Navajo cast ingot-silver and turquoise cuff bracelet by Etsitty Tsosie for the C.G. Wallace Trading Post, Zuni, NM, c. 1920’s

Perched for a very brief moment here is one of the rarest and most beautiful birds in the entire vast Southwestern sky, a piece so scarce and difficult to come by that it took us forty years to find. Yes, you heard that right, this is the very first and only Navajo silver bracelet by the great Etistty Tsosie (Little Silversmith) that we have ever had in our 40 years in the Indian arts business. Etsitty Tsosie’s exceptionally rare pieces especially his finest efforts such as this are very tightly held by those lucky few who have them and very much coveted by those who do not.

This exceptional, large-scale Navajo silver and turquoise cuff bracelet was beautifully crafted by the brilliant early Navajo silversmith, Etistty Tsosie (approx.1880-1937) almost certainly for C.G. Wallace’s famous trading post at Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico sometime in the 1920’s. Etsitty Tsosie was one of the most prominent and most accomplished of C.G. Wallace’s unprecedented All-Star lineup of Navajo and Pueblo silversmiths along with Hosteen Goodluck, Austin Wilson, Rogee Skeet, Sr. and others. Eskisosie’s (Wallace’s nickname for him) work was

so remarkable that for the fifteen or so years he worked for Wallace he was essentially Wallace’s secret weapon so to speak, his main go-to guy for making the eye-poppingly beautiful, extravagant knockout “trophy” type pieces Wallace used to impress his high-powered exclusive clientele.

"When I asked Eski Sosi if I could watch him make silver he said that the last time he let someone watch him, the silver wouldn't melt the way it should and he was not able to pour it."

-John Adair, “The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths”

University of Oklahoma Press, 1944, pp.92

In the 1975 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction sale of C. G. Wallace’s own personal collection, the catalog of which

is pictured above, there are no fewer than 20 pieces by Eskisosie. In the 1920’s when this bracelet was most likely made, Etsitty Tsosie’s jewelry pieces regularly won multiple First Prize blue ribbons at the prestigious annual Gallup, New Mexico Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial.

As you can see from the photos here, this bracelet is an absolutely fantastic visual powerhouse in every aspect in addition to its extreme rarity. Notice in particular the subtly beveled contours and elegant overall shape here, the completely incredible chisel, file and stamp work, the beautiful, big serrated silver bezel and the fine, probably Cerrillos, NM greenish-blue colored turquoise stone with light-brown matrixing.

Etsitty Tsosie at work making jewelry, c. 1920's.

This impressively-sized bracelet measures 1 5/16" at its center point and flares out slightly to 1 7/16" before tapering back in slightly to 1 3/8" at the terminals ends. The inner circumference end-to-end is 5 7/8" and the gap between the termrinals is a hair under 1 1/4" for a total interior circumference of just under 7 1/8". The bracelet weighs a substantial yet extremely comfortable 98 grams or 3 1/2 ounces and it is in excellent original condition with some nice age-appropriate wear and a fine patina. The bracelet is properly signed with Etsitty Tsosie’s customary and very handsome crossed-arrows hallmark.

We can promise you that this is flat-out one of the finest and certainly one of the rarest historic Navajo bracelets you will ever see anywhere and we can add with some degree of confidence and personal experience

that you will likely never have the opportunity to acquire a piece like this ever again (at least not from us)

unless you’re willing to wait for another forty years. But, for the time being, which most likely won’t be very

long, you can own this one in mere minutes.

SOLD