Early Navajo, Silver Medallion As Clasp Or Hair Piece

Item: 1677

Origins: Navajo, traded to Comanche
Date:  Circa 1900

Media: Silver

Dimensions: 1 7/8″ diameter, 1/2″ deep

Description: This came out of a Comanche collection in Oklahoma in the 1960s. It appears to be Navajo made and was likely traded or sold to the Southern Plains tribe.  It may have served as a clasp for a scarf around the neck, a bit like how a bolo tie works.  The scarf would be pulled through the clasp in the back, holding the scarf in place.  It could also have been used in hair to collect a ponytail.  The medallion has simple stamp work on it. There are three concentric rings of stamps, all joining each other and all making a smaller circle towards the center.  The edge is scalloped as well, mostly on the front surface.  On the back surface, the scalloped treatment disapears. The clasp is silver as well, and is soldered on.  This is a rare and early piece of Navajo silverwork that changed hands into the Comanche.

Condition:  Condition is original without restoration.

Provenance: A private Albuquerque, NM collection. This was collected in Oklahoma in the 1960s.

Price: 975