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Lot 8459
Turquoise and Silver Bracelet
4 December 2005, 11:00 PST
Los AngelesSold for US$188 inc. premium
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Arizona
An old pawn piece, possibly dating to the early part of the 20th Century, fabricated Navajo silversmiths. Pawn pieces were typically the most sought-after by Anglos as they were usually items the Indians themselves used for personal adornment and traded in for cash. The pawn system began as early as the 1870s. Due to lack of mobility, the Indians traded their jewelry at those posts which were close to their reservations. Their need for the pawn system was seasonal with the heaviest usage being during the lean winter months from December until the late Spring. There were two reasons for this, and both of them were sheep. The sheep were sheared in the late Spring, and the payment the Navajo received for their wool was expected to be used in part to redeem their jewelry during the months of June-November. By December the pawn racks were almost empty. In the late Fall, the lambs, which had been born in the Spring were ready to sell to the traders, and this second income was sufficient to get the Navajo through the early winter. By January, the funds had been exhausted and credit was once again necessary, so the jewelry would go back to the trading post. In exchange for this collateral, the traders would give the Indians cash or credit usually amounting to a sum less than the jewelry was worth. Very rarely did an Indian allow his prized possession to revert to the trader. Pawned pieces gained their reputation with Anglos for being a bargain. Regulations imposed in the old days by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, specified that the sale price of pawned jewelry could be no more than the debt owed to the trader, plus ten percent. The law now allows the trader to sell the piece for its true market value.
This very wearable cuff bracelet is mounted with fifteen circular turquoise cabochons bezel-set with silver granulated bead work and rope twist borders.
An old pawn piece, possibly dating to the early part of the 20th Century, fabricated Navajo silversmiths. Pawn pieces were typically the most sought-after by Anglos as they were usually items the Indians themselves used for personal adornment and traded in for cash. The pawn system began as early as the 1870s. Due to lack of mobility, the Indians traded their jewelry at those posts which were close to their reservations. Their need for the pawn system was seasonal with the heaviest usage being during the lean winter months from December until the late Spring. There were two reasons for this, and both of them were sheep. The sheep were sheared in the late Spring, and the payment the Navajo received for their wool was expected to be used in part to redeem their jewelry during the months of June-November. By December the pawn racks were almost empty. In the late Fall, the lambs, which had been born in the Spring were ready to sell to the traders, and this second income was sufficient to get the Navajo through the early winter. By January, the funds had been exhausted and credit was once again necessary, so the jewelry would go back to the trading post. In exchange for this collateral, the traders would give the Indians cash or credit usually amounting to a sum less than the jewelry was worth. Very rarely did an Indian allow his prized possession to revert to the trader. Pawned pieces gained their reputation with Anglos for being a bargain. Regulations imposed in the old days by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, specified that the sale price of pawned jewelry could be no more than the debt owed to the trader, plus ten percent. The law now allows the trader to sell the piece for its true market value.
This very wearable cuff bracelet is mounted with fifteen circular turquoise cabochons bezel-set with silver granulated bead work and rope twist borders.