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A wonderful old, large and wide Navajo

ingot-silver cuff bracelet, c. 1910-1920



Let’s talk about “Presence” and “Power” and “Patina” all with a capital “P”. This bracelet has them all in spades, This is old style Navajo silverwork all the way—it’s big, it’s bold, and it’s completely badass, like something you would expect to see on this fellow in the old photo below from John Adair’s seminal 1944 book “The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths”.


This bracelet was made by an extremely talented unknown Navajo silversmith for a Navajo; himself, a customer, a family member or a friend; there wasn’t an Anglo tourist anywhere around this piece at its creation only later Likely clamoring to buy it. So let’s start at the beginning, with the wonderful wide profile and flattish contour of its cast-ingot silver shank almost certainly made from melted-down and hammered out silver coins. In many ways— size, shape etc— this bracelet looks very much like a traditional Navajo Ketoh or Bowguard, with its wide flat front and curving inward sides.


A Navajo man, c. 1920 wearing a Second-Phase Concho belt with deep, oval-shaped repoussees similar to that on this bracelet. He is also wearing a ketoh or bowguard.


Photo source and © “The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths”, by John Adair, University of Oklahoma Press, 1944.

The top or front of the bracelet features a large, very deep, oval-shaped repousseed central panel, extremely difficult

to make properly, but most beautifully executed here. The repouseed panel is surrounded and accentuated by some very finely done stamp work decoration which also embellishes the bracelets edges all the way around. On either side near both terminals there is also a large stamp worked motif which echoes the central repousse in general shape and size.

All in all, it’s a masterful, highly-creative and highly-skilled presentation.


The bracelet measures an almost Mississippi River wide 2 5/16” in continuous width all the way around. The inner circumference end-to-end is 5 3/4” and the gap between the terminals is 1 5/8” for a total interior circumference of

7 3/8”. The bracelet weighs a very respectable 85 grams or 3 ounces and it is in excellent original condition with great age-appropriate wear and a particularly wonderful, fine old patina from its century-plus of age and wear. It is just slightly uneven at the terminals ends as can be seen in the photos, which is not at all uncommon in a large, early handmade piece. All in all, this one is a bit gnarly, dripping with old-school authenticity and grit, not a piece for pearl-clutchers or the faint of heart.


Wear it regularly yourself as you please and make everyone who sees it jealous as hell or just put it on a

shelf and bask privately in its total fabulousness. Anyway and anywhere you look at it, this baby is the bomb!



SOLD