Navajo Multi-stone and Silver Belt Buckle [SOLD]

Alvin Yellowhorse is a young man with an impressive family background.  He is the great-great-grandson of Hosteen Bele-sle-zo; great-grandson of Cuthair Yellowhorse & Tahsbah from Klagetoh & Wide Ruins; great-grandson of William Frank Beasley & Anna Beasley; paternal grandson of Anna Marie Tahy, a weaver, & Arthur David Beasley, a lapidarist; and son of Frank Yellowhorse, his mentor, and Elsie Yellowhorse.

Alvin learned the silversmithing trade at an early age from his father and later mastered the techniques of cutting the small turquoise and other colorful stones into precise little pieces.  Some portray Navajo figures, Southwest landscapes and starscapes.  Alvin says his designs are inspired to some extent by prehistoric drawings.  He uses a variety of shades of turquoise and other stones to achieve the scene he envisions. Schaaf 2013, 393

This belt buckle was purchased by the previous owner in 1998 so it was made when Yellowhorse was less than 30 years of age.  It is one the artist named “Storyteller” and it shows on lower left a typical sandstone abutment on the Navajo Reservation and above that a shooting star.  To the far right is a mask of a Navajo Yei surrounded on three sides by a turquoise band that ends with an arrowhead.  The background is black (jet) and there are silver stars throughout the buckle.

The intricate stonework is testament to the amazing lapidary talent of Yellowhorse and an indication of why he has won so many awards at Santa Fe Indian Market and was chosen to be exhibited in “Native Couture” at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe in 2007-09.  He was included in an article in Smithsonian Magazine in 1999.

Condition: excellent

Provenance: from the estate of a long-time client of Adobe Gallery who amassed a collection of 40 belt buckles, all of which we hopefully will be posting on-line.

Reference: American Indian Jewelry III: M-Z: 2,100 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf

TAGS: Alvin Yellowhorse, belt buckle, Navajo Reservation