Dig It - 2/13/25
Now here is a treat, Fellow Seekers, a beautiful, elegantly simple ingot bracelet. This is late-19th century Navajo silversmithing at its best. With just a few tools and under very primitive conditions, this master craftsman was able to produce this beautiful piece. The entire center repoussé lozenge is decorated with a harmonious, cold chisel herringbone design. The Navajo word for this balance or harmony is Hozo.
An interesting story: I purchased this bracelet last summer from a folk art dealer of long acquaintance. I bought it right off his wrist for a fortune. That dealer had in turn purchased it off Skip Holbrook’s wrist back in 1979. I doubt he paid more than a couple of hundred dollars back then.
Skip is an old friend of mine and co-author of the book “Indian Silver Jewelry Of The Southwest 1868-1930.” We used to do a lot of hiking together back in the day. I do remember one time we got terribly lost in an area where all the trees were about 10 feet in height so you could not see through, around, or above them, and we could not find where we had parked the car. It was a good ten-mile hike back to any kind of civilization, and the sun was starting to set. By God, I was getting worried, figuring we would have to get a Forest Service helicopter to come back the next day and find the car from the air. Well, I picked up a little woodcutter's trace and saw it had fresh tire tracks, hoping they were ours. Luckily, they were, and we got the hell out of there just as the sun set. I think we were probably within ten feet of the car a number of times, but with the dense trees, we just never saw it. There's nothing better than driving out of someplace, disaster averted, and a cold Negro Modelo to light the way. Adios! -Lonesome.