Dig It - 6/29/23
Okay Fellow Seekers, today we are going to look at a pair of 1880s ingot silver Navajo Manta Pins. Now these things are rare as hen’s teeth, and since hens don’t have teeth that makes them pretty rare.
What is a Manta pin you might well ask? It is a device to hold your Manta, or shawl, around your shoulders by overlapping the ends of the textile and running a pin through them. Mantas were/are primarily worn by the Pueblo women, but occasionally by Navajos. When I first acquired these pins many, many years ago, I thought they might have been repurposed off a horse bridle, but after reexamining them I think they were made as Manta pins. Other than where the the copper pins have been soldered, there is no scarring on the back to indicate previous soldered loops etc. The simple rayed diamond design created with a cold chisel, make these pins bold and powerful works of art. What more is there to say? Adios Buckaroos.