@Ziacat One thing I want to be sure of is that the swastika pattern has been erased.
If this bracelet was made in 1920-30ish, there is a possibility that the swastika mark was erased by someone after the WWII.
Possible. Or maybe somebody bought the reproduction and didn’t want the swastika type mark on it and erased it.
But I don’t have the knowledge that some of the people on here do, so I’m really hoping someone jumps in on how old this could possibly be.
If it is a repro and has been bought by a certain customer in pretty recent time, would a buyer who had a negative reaction to a swastika really bought it?
Erasing the swastika means that someone hated the pattern, but if this bracelet is a reproduction and recently made, I don’t think someone who have problem with swastika wouldn’t buy it rather than erase the pattern. Just my opinion haha
I’m not sure exactly what you mean, but yes, I believe they do make reproductions with that symbol on them. And people still do buy them.
By the way, welcome to the site, it’s cool to have someone from South Korea on here!
Again, what’s giving me pause is the fact that the edges don’t look worn on any of it that I can see.
The Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild is totally different from the Fred Harvey/Fred Harvey style stuff.
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You might find this older post interesting.Is Fred Harvey jewelry a gateway into the real stuff?
The discussion is referring to Fred Harvey type jewelry not Arrow Novelty Company, but still similar topic. Shows how difficult it is to figure these things out.
This cuff that was sold on Esty through Indian Lodge Road at some point. OP mentioned her bracelet came from a pawn shop, so I don’t think it’s the exact same one.
Indian Lodge Road has a similarly constructed/designed cuff on their website right now.
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So maybe @EatSleepTurquoise has an original. I see the second one is listed as Fred Harvey era. I wish we could see if they have the same mark as @EatSleepTurquoise’s cuff.
I will say with my recent experience involving a fake ring on another Etsy site, I’m hesitant to believe completely a number of things on Etsy. So that may be partly why I was feeling suspicious that it was old. At a quick glance this site looks way better!!
Edit: I just read the copy on the first one and it says it’s the Arrow Novelty Company; so same stamp on that one anyway.
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As best I could, I meticulously compared the OP’s bracelet to the Esty bracelet. Stampwork placement and everything else looks identical. So it’s either the same bracelet or an exact copy to my unprofessional eye.
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Agree with @TAH that it’s the same bracelet. The bottom one is rotated 90 degrees with regards to the first in @Steve’s mash-up.
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Hopefully @EatSleepTurquoise has gotten an original cuff. Now I think I’ve seen enough whirling logs to last me for a long time.
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Etsy seller here. There are a lot of imports, wrongly attributed, tourist jewelry sold as “Navajo “, and other assorted things sold on Etsy. But there are also a lot of ethical sellers as well. It’s buyer be ware.
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The bracelets have some surface features (irregularities, porosity, striations) which look as if they may be cast. The missing features of the whirling log patterns look as if they happened as the pieces were pulled from a mold. I don’t know that this is the case, but I strongly suspect that it is.
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I think those pieces look cast as well, something about the little shot plate pieces where they meet the bracelet.
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Right. The fluted shot looks as if it was soldered directly to the surface of the metal on the original master, with repousse relief undercuts possibly created after the fact. The castings of the fluted shot features on the flat surface of the silver definitely look like the bracelets were pulled from a mold as a unit. Nothing fundamentally wrong with making the bracelets that way, and they might even be “vintage”, but I do not believe they are individually handmade, and are probably misrepresented with regard to method of manufacture and origin.
ETA: The seller appears to have some very nice jewelry for sale, so if there is a mistake, I’d be inclined to believe it’s an honest error, rather than intentional misrepresentation.
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I think there are a lot of “twirling log” reproductions out there. And people are buying them because they want to fit in with a certain demographic here in the US.
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!!
I will be fair, as a hater of this imagery, to note that (and it’s been discussed on this forum as well) there is a significant push to re-legitimize the image among NA dealers and collectors, ostensibly on world-history grounds but, let’s be real, clearly in part for economic reasons, to protect the value of vintage goods. Obviously this is separate from current production and its intentions.
There was a lengthy article in Native American Art magazine about it not long ago, and I found the author amazingly eager to dispense with the twentieth century post mid-1930s. And wrote the editor to push back against this flagrant denialism. He was gracious but woudn’t publish a letter to the editor.
Moving on, as they say.
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I think you have to be cautious about assuming the intentions about any past owner of a swastika/whirling log piece.
there are sellers now adding them to vintage pieces in attempt to add value or age to an otherwise nondescript piece, or to draw in buyers with a certain political or ethical mindset these days. be especially aware of this for any material coming out of the US.
for the same reason, there are people making very convincing reproductions of older swastika/whirling log (or any native work) pieces and selling them to unsuspecting buyers, who then go in to sell them to others as legitimate pieces. once they enter the market in that way, it can become impossible for most buyers to distinguish genuine from fake.
as an newer collector, these can all be landmines to decipher on your own! welcome to the forum.
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@mmrogers There have been several discussions. I was curious about it this morning too, so I took a close-up photo. To my eyes, it doesn’t look like it fell off during casting, it looks like it has traces of being rubbed by someone tho. what do you think?
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