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An outstanding historic Navajo ingot-silver
cuff bracelet with deep repousees, c. 1910-1915
This is a wonderful and rare early 20th Century Navajo bracelet with unusually deep and extremely well-executed
and beautiful repoussee work and some elegant and very finely done chisel and stampwork. Also, the bracelet has a particularly wonderful bright whitish “color” and aged patina to the coin ingot silver and a lovely soft feel in the hand and on the wrist. Notably, there is very little, indeed almost no wear evident on this early bracelet which says
to us that it was collected very early on at or very near the source and kept basically in its original condition or
very close to it for most of its life. It’s like a time capsule or silver blast from the past; an essentially almost new piece that is actually 110-115 years old. I’s a real serious stunner!
This bracelet was painstakingly crafted in the traditional Navajo silversmithing manner, the unknown but obviously very skilled Navajo silversmith who made it melted down a quantity of precious American and/or Mexican silver coins and then cast the red-hot molten silver into an ingot-silver “slug” which he then subsequently hammered out to form the shank of the bracelet. Then he applied some extraordinary skill and artistry to make the amazingly deep repoussees
and the beautiful stamp and chisel work. This one is definitely a “golden oldie” in silver.
The bracelet measures 1 1/4" in width at its widest center point and it tapers very slightly down to 7/8" in width at the terminal ends. The inner circumference end to end is 5 1/2" and the gap between the terminals is 7/8" for a total interior circumference of 6 3/8". The bracelet weighs a very comfortable and easy to wear 64 grams or 2 1/4 ounces and it is in absolutely remarkable original condition especially for its age showing very little wear and no damage.
Everyone knows that being born with good genes can make for a long and beautiful life. This splendid bracelet
is the poster child for the truth of that. If you have been patiently searching for that great old, great-looking
Navajo bracelet to be your everyday "go-to" piece, your ship might have just come in.
Price $4,200
