Sterling, Tufa Cast Butterfly Style Buckle
Gerald Bitsie
- Savvy Price $395.00
- Gallery Price $450.00
- Title
- Sterling, Tufa Cast Butterfly Style Buckle
- Artist
- Gerald Bitsie
- Medium
- Sterling silver
- Troy ounces
- 2.67 troy ounces
- Size
- Overall 3 7/8" length X 2 5/8" height. Bar will accommodate a 1 1/2" strap.
- Signed
- Stamped "G B" on verso
- Date of creation
- 1970's
- Condition
- Excellent
- Design
- This handsome buckle is based on a design as old as silver work created by American Indian artists in the late 1800's.
- Provenance
- Jo Re
- Gram weight
- 82.9 grams
- About The Sterling, Tufa Cast Butterfly Style Buckle
Sterling silver was smelted and poured into a traditional "butterfly" open work form, carved into a block of tufa stone. The carved piece was attached with steel wire to a plain piece (for a smooth back) before the molten silver was poured.
Careful filing and hand finishing with sand papers and buffing tools followed. Creation of a swivel bar and "tooth" were accomplished with heavy gauge drawn wire and hammered sheet--made from ingot. These attachments are sturdy. Hard solder was used to apply the bar and tooth. Line details are stamped by hand.
It is a difficult pour, in that an open form and sytem like this, allows the silver to cool even more quickly, increasing the possibility of incomplete areas.
- About Gerald Bitsie
- 20th century Navajo jeweler whose jewelry was sold through The White Hogan in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mr. Bitsie was believed to have died prior to the year 2000.
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