Old Navajo Silver Bracelet With Repeating Crescent and Eye Stamp Work

About the Piece: 

This old Navajo silver bracelet is more than meets the eye. At first it appears to just be a fairly plain repeating stamped design of crescent and eye motifs, but that design itself actually holds power in its rhythmic repetition. There's both a charm and a strength in that simplicity. Especially when you look closer - you can see that each little hand stamp is just the teeniest bit imperfect. That's what we want in good, old Navajo jewelry.

Even though it is lighter weight, this bracelet was likely forged from ingot silver rather than cut from later commercial sheet. Notice the irregular interior texture and the compression marks that result from hammering a poured piece of silver down to a specific gauge or thickness. The Navajo silversmith decorated the front with his stamp work but left the interior more honest, which is a cool contrast. 

Of course, this bracelet lends itself to stacking, but do give it the chance to stand on its own.

The piece dates circa 1930 and is unsigned. It measures 5 1/4" inside plus 1 1/4" opening and 5/8" wide.

From the collection of a discerning (and lovely) Native American jewelry collector based in Pennsylvania.

Summary:

Item: Bracelet (cuff)

Attribution: Navajo

Date: Circa 1930s

Materials: Forged silver

Dimensions: 5 1/4" inside plus 1 1/4" opening and 5/8" wide

Provenance: From the collection of a discerning Native American jewelry collector based in Pennsylvania.