This is a classic concha belt by Navajo silversmith Mary Cayanito. This abounds in traditional design elements of early twentieth century concha belts and makes it a fine example of today's school of Navajo Traditional Revival jewelry.
At the center of this belt is an exemplary buckle rich in repoussée forms and anchored on its four corners by soft S-curved repoussée shapes. John Adair, in his book The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths (University of Oklahoma Press 1949, p. 33), wrote of this sort of design:
As the art of the Navajo silversmith developed, the decorative possibilities of the buckles were realized, and they were increased in size, until they became as large or larger than the conchas.... A variety of forms developed. A common design for the rectangular buckles was composed of four shallow s-shaped figures, two of which were stamped at the top of the buckle and two at the bottom.
The period Adair referred to is that of the first three decades of the twentieth century. And we see another stylistic element of this belt which places the piece in design continuity with this period. Namely, the conchas bear a diamond-shaped cut-out which is common to the earliest concha belts of the late 19th century. But these cut-outs are only decorative in nature, like the belts of the early 20th century. In the older, 19th-century belts, the diamond cut-out had a vertical transverse bar in its center and the leather strip passed through the cut-out and anchored the concha to the belt by gripping this transverse bar (which was concealed by the leather). By the early decades of the 20th century, soldering had become a widely-used technique by the smiths and vertical strips of metal (in copper or silver) were soldered to the backs of the conchas to thread the leather strip of the belt. And here we see this same design, wherein the diamond cut-out of the 19th century is used as a decorative aspect without being associated with the manner in which the belt strip is attached to the conchas. The stylistic continuity of the early 20th-century period embodied in this piece makes it a fine study in traditional design and clearly shows Mary's roots in traditional smithing.
This belt consists of the large buckle, with a rich violet egg-shaped piece of purple spiny oyster at its center and ten cut-out conchas. Each concha is attached to the belt leather by two vertical copper strips soldered to the back of the concha. The conchas fit through the belt loops of Levi's 501's and so this is what we call a "belt loop" concha belt, though this could be worn in traditional Navajo style over the clothing and gathering a long blouse or dress.
This is easily adjustable to one's exact waist size and we include clear instructions for adjustment and long-term care of your belt with every one sold.
Hallmarked "MC" and stamped "Sterling" on the back of the buckle.
Buckle: 3 1/4" x 2 3/4 " Spiny Oyster: 7/8 " x 9/16 "
Oval conchas: (10) 2 1/2" x 1 7/8" "
Width of leather: 3/4"
**Note on Size** The running linear length of all the conchas and the buckle is just over 28 ". Assuming minimal spacing between the conchas, this belt probably requires a minimum waist size of 32" (without removing any conchas). But if this is worn in traditional Navajo style over clothing and is allowed to fall to the hips, then that should be taken into account for sizing.
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