Diné (Navajo) Sterling Silver and Turquoise Link Belt [SOLD]

The Diné (Navajo) are a people who have easily adapted to changing conditions.  They saw the beauty or functionality of other’s ways or things.  The adapted to the horses introduced by the Spaniards in the 1600s.  They had adapted to their new desert homeland in the 1500s when they first settled in the American Southwest after hundreds of years of migration across the Bering Straits.  They also easily accepted the sheep brought to the continent by Spaniards and put the wool to use weaving textiles in a process taught them by the Hopi Indians.  Adaptation is largely responsible for their survival.

The Diné learned the techniques of silversmithing from a Mexican man named Atsidi Sani (The Old Smith) and their source of silver was Mexican silver dollars which they hammered out to discs. One of the items for which they are known is the concha belt.  It, too, is an item they adapted from another tribe.  The Plains Indians made circular silver discs and tied a strip of them down the back of their long hair.  From this hair piece came the famous Navajo concha belt.

The traditional concha belt consists of nine or ten 3- to 4-inch silver domed pieces mounted on a leather belt and embellished by a buckle generally of a style different from the conchas.  This creation has had a 150-year successful rein for the Diné’s own use and as an item to barter or sell.

What is less documented is a smaller belt often called a “link belt.”  It generally consists of quarter-size silver discs linked together in chain style.  There is almost no documentation on when or where this item developed.  It is quite likely it is a creation of the famous Fred Harvey Company as an item for sale to tourists—an item less expensive and faster to produce that standard traditional concha belts.

This sterling silver and turquoise belt is typical of the high-quality of those sold by Fred Harvey in the 1920-1950s.  The conchas are rectangular in shape with sculpted edges and stamping around the perimeter and at the center.  There are 14 conchas.  Round stamped silver discs are linked to each concha with hand-made silver-wire hooks.  The buckle, also rectangular, is larger than the individual conchas.  It, too, has stamped designs around its edges and in the center under the stone.  Belts of this style are popular because they can be laced into pant belt loops or worn in the style of concha belts draped over one’s hips.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: from the collection of a Santa Fe resident

Recommended Reading:  FINE INDIAN JEWELRY OF THE SOUTHWEST: The Millicent Rogers Museum Collection [SOLD] by Shelby Tisdale, Ph.D.