Special Value Offer: Cochiti Pueblo Sterling Silver Concha Belt [SOLD]

C3276-concha.jpg

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Silviano Quintana (1915-2003)
  • Category: Belts and Buckles
  • Origin: Cochiti Pueblo, KO-TYIT
  • Medium: sterling silver conchas, leather belt
  • Size:
    30” to 33” waist size;
    3” x 2-1/2” concha size;
    3” x 2-1/8” buckle
  • Item # C3276
  • SOLD

Special Value Offer: We have been authorized to reduce this belt by 42% from the original price of $3250 to a new price of $1875.

Example of how one should wear this beautiful belt - with Santa Fe Formal (anything black)

The Navajo are best known for production of concha belts, but pueblo silversmiths also made them.  Joe Quintana and Silviano Quintana are known to have made them—some signed and others not.  This concha belt was examined on October 18, 2013 by Cochiti jeweler Cippy Crazyhorse, son of Joe Quintana, who stated that he thought this was made by Silviano Quintana.

 

Julius Gans operated a curio store, Southwest Arts & Crafts, on the plaza in Santa Fe in the early 1900s.  In those early years, he would drive to Gallup, New Mexico, to purchase jewelry from traders there.  After a few years Gans was purchasing directly from pueblo artists in their homes.  By the 1930s, Gans’ store was the largest retail curio operation in Santa Fe.

 

The Navajo (Diné) are a people who have added much beauty to their world and ours. Beauty is a quality they particularly appreciate; it is a repeated theme in their songs, ceremonies and in their rugs and jewelry.   This Navajo sterling silver concha belt is comprised of 9 oval conchas and a rectangular buckle.  Each concha has a cutout at its center in the style of the 19th century “first phase” conchas, a style revived in the 1950s or a little earlier.  The style that followed this one eliminated the cutout and replaced it with a loop on the underside through which the belt could be attached.  The edges of the conchas are scalloped and stamped with traditional silver stamps.  The buckle is repoussé.    Condition:  the silver has just recently been polished which removed decades of patina but that will re-appear in time.  There are a few scratches but nothing of significance.  The belt is ready to wear.  Provenance: from a collector in Indiana who purchased it at the Bright Angel Lodge at the Grand Canyon in early 1950s  Recommended Reading:  Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest: 1868-1930 by Larry Frank, et al. In 1927, Gans was employing pueblo silversmiths to make jewelry on-site.  Early jewelry was made from Mexican pesos.  The silversmithing shop at Gans store held positions for twenty four jewelers.  The silversmiths owned their own tools, but Gans provided silver and turquoise.  Most of Gans’ smiths were from Cochiti Pueblo.

 

Bench-work by pueblo and some Navajo continued until 1941 when Gans eliminated the workshop.  Some of the smiths had commuted daily from Cochiti and others had moved to Santa Fe.  Smiths were provided all materials and they were paid an hourly wage.  The same wage was paid workers who worked from their homes. 

 

Silviano and his wife were among those living in Santa Fe in 1938.  Silviano served in World War II in the U. S. Army.  He was awarded 1st and 2nd awards at the 1954 New Mexico State Fair.

 

The Santa Fe Indian School inaugurated classes for silversmiths in 1931 with Ambrose Roanhorse as the first instructor.

 

Reference and Recommended Reading:  The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico by Jonathan Batkin

Update:  Cippy Crazyhorse, famous jeweler from Cochiti Pueblo examined this belt on October 18, 2013 and said he believed it was made by Silviano Qintana.

Close up view of the concho - concha detailed design stampwork.

 

Silviano Quintana (1915-2003)
  • Category: Belts and Buckles
  • Origin: Cochiti Pueblo, KO-TYIT
  • Medium: sterling silver conchas, leather belt
  • Size:
    30” to 33” waist size;
    3” x 2-1/2” concha size;
    3” x 2-1/8” buckle
  • Item # C3276
  • SOLD

C3276-concha.jpgC3276-large.jpg Click on image to view larger.