Diné - Navajo Silver and Turquoise Concha Belt [SOLD]
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- Category: Belts and Buckles
- Origin: Diné of the Navajo Nation
- Medium: Silver, Turquoise, Leather
- Size: Waist size 32 to 37;
Conchas 2-1/2” x 2-3/4” each;
Buckle 3” x 2-1/2” - Item # 23987 SOLD
The Diné are a people who have added much beauty to their world and ours. Beauty is a quality they particularly appreciate; it is a repeated theme in their songs, ceremonies and in their rugs and jewelry.
The Diné lifestyle and arts are those of a nomadic. They depend heavily on the horse and lavish their creative talents in weavings and silverwork on them. Perhaps there is some correlation in living with nature that sparks their creativity.
In the early twentieth century, banks were non-existent on the Navajo Reservation. As a result, the Navajo tended to invest their wealth into jewelry and if they needed money, they could pawn the jewelry at the local trading post. One popular form of jewelry that is distinctly Navajo is the concha belt. Conchas (named after the Spanish word for shell) are round or oval disks of silver. The Navajo have taken a design which they may have borrowed from the Mexican concha bridle ornament or from the oval shaped hair ornaments worn by the Plains Indians and added designs copied from the leather stamps of the Spanish and Moors. The shortened name, concha (or conchas for more than one) is used to describe these belts.
This concha belt from the period 1920-1940 has nine traditionally stamped silver concha plaques and a buckle, each with turquoise. Each concha has ridged and scalloped decoration. The buckle has elegant stamp work and repoussé. All of the turquoise cabochons are natural and only one has a crack.
Billy Goodluck was the son of Desbah and Hosteen Goodluck. He was a recognized master Diné jeweler in the traditional style. He learned by watching his famous father. Around 1935, Billy Goodluck reported that they realized about $1,000 per year from his silver jewelry.
Condition: excellent condition
Provenance: from a young gentleman in Santa Fe
Recommended Reading: FINE INDIAN JEWELRY OF THE SOUTHWEST: The Millicent Rogers Museum Collection by Shelby Tisdale, Ph.D. This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery
- Category: Belts and Buckles
- Origin: Diné of the Navajo Nation
- Medium: Silver, Turquoise, Leather
- Size: Waist size 32 to 37;
Conchas 2-1/2” x 2-3/4” each;
Buckle 3” x 2-1/2” - Item # 23987 SOLD
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