When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
This beautifully designed and crafted belt buckle was done by Navajo silversmith D. Allison. Allison worked for the Hand Made Indian Jewelry shop of M. Ortega. And, this buckle is signed with the Ortega shop mark (HMIJ) as well as Allison's D.A. hallmark.
The buckle measures 3" across and 2 1/4" wide. The loop at the back will fit a belt up to 1.5" wide. The buckle weighs 45.3 grams or 1.46 ounces. This buckle is a prayer for water with the three flute players song resonating towards the prayer sticks. Above are some beautifully crafted waves of water in coral and turquoise chip inlay. Below the ground is water seeping through.
This buckle shows it's age with normal signs of wear and is in great vintage condition with all of the inlay intact.
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.
