My newest vintage silver cuff with unusual internal stamping

I received my new cuff and now that I have it in hand I have even more questions. I liked the simple stamped design but it was the designs on the interior of the cuff that made me purchase it. Part of it was covered by the sellers tag but I thought I saw what might be a hallmark. It also had the rustic crosses and the unusual designs on each end that remind me of human figures. The cuff is 1 1/8” tall and weighs a comfortable 87 grams-super comfortable. I found the letters that I was hoping to see. They look like a rustic FC. I did some searching and found 2 brothers from the 50-60’s that both used the same FC hallmark but there are no hallmarks that are visually the same. I think some of this is chiseled. I would love to know more about the construction details, approximate age and your thoughts about the interior designs. It would be awesome if one of you were actually familiar with the artist. Not flexible at all. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and knowledge. I really appreciate the help. I can provide more pictures if you need them.

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Falcon Trading Company

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I can’t help you with any details, but that is a magnificently awesome cuff, IslandMomma! :+1:

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Your sleuthing skills continue to amaze me. Thank you very much for that info and this cuff is so cool that I don’t care whether it’s Anglo or not. I noticed you didn’t weigh in on the weird people on the inside. I would have never found that because I wasn’t looking at it the same way. I saw the crosses first and never considered the one being a T. Now I can go research the company. My brain has not been working as well as usual because I have had custody of two young grandchildren for about a month now. Not very much Me time anymore. Thanks :blush:

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Thank you very much. I’ve had it on since I unpacked it this afternoon. :hugs:

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L0L plenty of us on the outside :grin:

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Yep! You definitely got that right. :raising_hands::raising_hands::raising_hands:. It keeps people on their toes. :joy:

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Great cuff, @Islandmomma! The figure on the inside isn’t stamping, It’s wriggle cut with a square graver. This technique is often used for outlining and defining scroll backbones in western bright cut engraving.

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Awesome cuff, @Islandmomma, congratulations!! It’s impossible to beat hefty silver and bold stampwork. I really like the stamps at the terminals, they’re beautiful.

To me, these forms resemble petroglyphs at Sego and Horseshoe Canyon.

Thank you, Mike! Initially I thought the eyes and horizontal element at the chest resembled rocker engraving. Are these processes synonymous?

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Wow, that’s a real keeper, and a piece of art! Excellent find!

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Great cuff. Nice deep stamping and the inside is a nice bonus.

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Not usually, Aaron. One rarely sees wriggle cutting, and stamp work used together. Occasionally, you see both used in western saddle embellishment, and you’d think more western engravers would employ stampwork as well considering how integral it is with western leatherwork, but generally the bright cut guys tend to stick with engraving only..

ETA: Misunderstood your query. Thought you were asking about the combination of wriggle, or rocker cutting, and stampwork in the same piece. “Rocker “and “wriggle” are indeed synonymous.

As you know the pattern is created by moving a flat graver with a sharpened heel forward into the surface of the metal while rocking or wriggling the graver side to side in an even rhythmic pattern. It’s favored in western or cowboy engraving because it allows the engraver to cut backbones, and borders quickly and efficiently on the fly with minimal or no advance layout work. This help make western bright cut engraving much faster to produce (by orders of magnitude) than “single point “engraving where layouts are hand drawn in advance, and each background, border, and shading line are meticulously cut one at a time.

From the looks of the cutting on @Islandmomma’s bracelet, the silversmith is well familiar and practiced with wriggle or rocker cutting, and likely also works in western bright cut engraving.

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Thanks everyone. I learn so much when I post things on here-everything from identifying obscure hallmarks to construction details. I appreciate all of you!

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@Islandmomma Congrats, that’s a cool & fabulous cuff! I would’ve purchased it in a heartbeat. The silverwork is beautiful. I’m going to part ways here a bit - I think the inside design may be stars, not crosses. 4-pointed stars are a common motif in Native American jewelry. (I understand the cuff may be Anglo made.)

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Yes, I was looking at that this morning and I am inclined to agree with you. When I looked at it initially, I was thinking crosses because of the center letter of the hallmark. After the hallmark was identified I started looking again and they did look more like stars. That would also make more sense with the figures on each end. They would be out under the night sky. Thanks

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@Islandmomma I hadn’t considered the end figures on the inside. What you said about them being under the night sky makes perfect sense. I think @Ravenscry is on-point with the figures possibly representing petroglyphs/rock art. Methinks there’s a story unfolding in the inside of your beautiful cuff :slightly_smiling_face:.

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Thanks again Steve. Based on the fellows he was grouped with I’d say I made a good buy. I know Jock Favour’s work usually brings pretty decent prices. Last night after you gave me the name I saw this. I found Jesse Robbins web site and checked his prices too. What I haven’t seen is any other cuffs with the interior decoration that mine has. Of course I haven’t had very much time to research with these two little beings who have infiltrated my life. :woman_shrugging::joy:

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Bless you for taking care of them!! But I’m sure it is exhausting at times.

Beautiful cuff; it looks like it has a nice heft to it. The figures totally remind me of the Sego Canyon pictographs.

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Congratulations @Islandmomma Your bracelet is definitely a keeper NA or not.

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