Dig It - 10/12/23
The Mystery of the Dancing Hula Girl Bracelets
Well Fellow Seekers, when you’ve been in the business as long as I have you begin to see patterns. Call me Crazy, because I am, but I think these two bracelets were probably made by the same Silversmith.
First clue - both bracelets are ingot silver and a large size. In 53 years of dealing in Navajo silver, I have only had a handful of really large early bracelets. At the turn of the 19th-20th century, not many Navajos had big wrists.
Second clue - both bracelets have a similar design layout with a large stone in the center and a rayed feather design around it. Now, I will admit there are differences in the bezels and the arrangement and shape of the rayed feathers on the bracelets.
Third clue, which is the kicker, are the stamps used to make the Hula Dancer. Now I don’t have a photo of them so you will have to take Old Lonesome’s word for that, but midway on each bracelet’s band is a group of elaborate stamps that look like a Hula Girl. Which to me honestly, look like a grass skirt and hands raised above in a hula girl pose.
I do think the green stone bracelet is a bit earlier than the blue stone. It is a little cruder, while the other is a bit more refined, like the smith has gotten better at his craft. When you think about it, how many silversmiths were there at the turn of the century? I know from government surveys taken at that time, that there is an actual number, and it is surprisingly high, but Seekers I could not find the reference before I went to Press. Even with a substantial increase in the number of Navajo silversmiths around 1900 due to the Fred Harvey Company demand for tourist souvenirs, the production was nothing like it has been in more recent times. It should not be surprising that we can identify silversmiths by their design preferences and specific stamps. So Fellow Seekers, Mystery Solved?
-Lonesome
