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This vintage sterling silver bracelet has been beautifully crafted by well known Navajo silversmith Alton Bedonie. It shows an exquisitely crafted cloud design. Alton is a very original and creative artist, he uses a variety of techniques including stamping and silver overlay and is one of the few Native American silversmiths to carve his jewelry using a high speed diamond bit drill.
This bracelet measures 5 5/8" around the inside with an additional 1 1/8" opening at the back for a total of 6 3/4" around. The band is 1/2" wide. The bracelet weighs 34.3 grams. It is marked with Alton's AYB hallmark and marked sterling.
Alton Bedonie was born in 1951 in Jeddito, Arizona near Keams Canyon on the Navajo Nation.He was born in a hogan (traditional Navajo home). Alton was the second of four children. His mother, Duffy Bedonie, was a single mom and as a a weaver, she supported her family through her art. Later on she became proficient in jewelry making as well.
As a child, Alton often stayed with his grandparents, who raised horses, sheep and cattle. They also grew squash, melons, and corn. He cherishes those memories, and it was with his grandfather, Jim Bedonie, that he first learned silversmithing.
Tommy Singer was very influential in Alton’s jewelry making. Alton’s mother also gave him some of her stamping tools, which further set him on his path of being a jeweler.His precise silver stamping and chisel work is some of the best today. His silverwork is also often complemented with high grade and natural turquoise.
Throughout the 40 years that I have been in business, I have purchased jewelry from pawn shops throughout the Southwest that had collections of dead pawn. Most of these pawn shops and trading posts are now closed. The Native American would pawn his jewelry for immediate cash. The shop would hold it and charge interest until he could reclaim it. Dead pawn are the pieces that were never retrieved. Old Pawn Jewelry typically dates from the early 1900s to the 1970s. Most of the early pieces are not signed because it wasn't the Native American tradition to sign the pieces they crafted. Also, the turquoise in old pawn is turquoise that you can't get anymore because many of the mines have closed. And, the red and orange coral is rare because of the coral bleaching which is happening today.
