Who made this belt buckle?

Hi, I inherited this belt buckle from my late grandfather. I am trying to figure out who the artist may be, I have found a similar mark but it is RLB not RL. Any help would be appreciated.


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I would research Robert Leekya. The style is similar to ones he made with his wife Bernice Leekya.

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You’d think this one would be fairly easy to identify. There’s a lot of information on the back of that buckle. What’s the thingy in the middle? @Steve?

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Looks like a female head in profile (facing right), though not recognizably Native American.

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RL

nothing on reverse image search

profile2

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I have a few carinated cuffs that have this same profile hallmark, could it be a shop mark?

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the stamp used on the buckle looks like it was an early example. strong impression, more details in the face, hairline and feathers.

other examples look like it was still being used and showing less detail and just a general outline overall.

the different numbers and initials found in and around this profile would lead one to think of a central shop, studio or group tie in but source details elusive

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I see the female face profile, but I’m not so sure that’s what it is. A poster on the linked thread mentioned a stylized buffalo. At first, I saw a buffalo too.

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Here is my 2 cents worth. It looks to me like a person wearing an old style football or other helmet, possibly with goggles and short visor above the nose, and feathers protruding from under the helmet. Any famous #80 sport related Native Americans?

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What was Jim Thorpe’s number?

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@Steve noted above that the profile/buffalo mark is freestanding, i.e. it could appear on several different makers’ work from a studio or group. As we know, some stamps are available to anyone to use.

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Jim’s numbers that I could find were 2, 21, and 3.

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Try as hard as I can, I cannot see a Buffalo :laughing::thinking:

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I asked my hubby what he saw…he immediately said football helmet, but has to be an antique cause it has no face mask…

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Same! lol No buffalo roaming into my eyeballs.

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As I was looking for something else, I saw this on the Amerindien website. Guess it’s a puzzle there too…


Although it’s again with different initials. And no arrow. So like Chicfarmer said, must be used by different artists.

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I agree with @fernwood. I researched Bernice Leekya. She married Robert Leekya, after which they shared an “RLB” stamp. Robert’s former stamp was RL although conjoined. These Zuni artists worked for trader John Kennedy in Gallup, NM before and after he took over the Gallup Indian Jewelry Company. The profile stamp was/is used by Beverly Lucero who is Cochiti from NM but it was also used by others. The numbers may be those licensed by UITA for trading post or member use to demonstrate authenticity. Or maybe the numbers were assigned by the trading post to designate the tribe and the artist. For example, the original Gallup company assigned the number 11 to designate silver work as Zuni. All of the photos and much of the information provided here was taken from Billie Hougart’s book: “Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th Edition”.




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