Lot 4

Navajo Sterling Buckle & Deer Lodge Horsehair Belt

Estimate: $500 - $1,000

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$25,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000
The lot features a fantastic, original, handmade piece that shows a Navajo sterling silver and turquoise ranger buckle set with a tooled leather and Montana State Deer Lodger Prison hitched horsehair belt, dating to circa 1970-1980's. The buckle set is a nice large size and is all sterling silver with a wonderful old pawn stamped, tooled styling set with two Bisbee turquoise cabochon stones. The set is comprised of a large buckle, two slides, and the end tip. The end tip is stamped "Sterling". The hat band is adjustable; it is a custom tooled leather, basket weaver pattern with hitched horsehair (horsehair) handmade by an inmate at Deer Lodge Montana State Prison. Overall, the piece shows very good condition, displaying a nice patina on the sterling silver and little to no fraying to the horsehair. Prison horsehair hitching is immensely detailed and takes hundreds of hours to craft; each strand is typically hand dyed, yielding a truly amazing work of art. The hat band measures 33.25" long when the buckle was undone, and the hatband is laid out flat (from end of buckle to end of tip). The buckle itself is 2 1/8" x 2". The piece is approximately 1 1/8" at its widest. When the piece is buckled, the internal circumference at the largest hole is approximately 26” to 27"; at the smallest hole it is 23". This could either be used as a small belt or hat band.