Sterling Concho Link Belt

[larrywseale]

Picked this up at an estate auction. The only mark is the arrow & it tests as sterling. The overlay work is unique to each concha & I think whoever did the work was a very good smith.

Any information or opinion welcome

[WarrenKundis]

Hi Larry, were you able to identify the silversmith of this Concho belt? Love the work, what really grabs me is the fact that all fifteen heavy links appear to be individually done.

Good luck
Warren

[larrywseale]

Hi Warren:

Nope, no idea who the smith was & I checked even to the point of contacting three or four "experts"

No one had a clue but I had one tell me that it was bench made in about an hour & could be picked at any trading post in Gallup. He got a little huffy when I asked if he minded telling me specifically where I could find something even remotely similar.

I believe the smith made it for them self, someone they knew or it was contract work for someone. Even using commercial findings for the designs would have taken a bit of time to lay out & solder plus the weight & the lack of a sterling stamp (IMO) usually means it wasn't made for resale.

I suspect I'll never have any provenance on it.

-larry-