The lot features a traditional Navajo Ketoh bow guard cuff / bracelet in sterling silver with Stormy Mountain Turquoise on thick genuine leather. A Ketoh, or bow guard, is a heavy leather wrist band to protect the inner portion of the lower arm of an archer from the snap of the bow string. Originally, they were plain, thick leather straps. Once silversmithing became a part of Navajo life, ketohs began to be decorated. Ketohs were made by and for Native Americans, not the market. Now there is no practical use for these stylized wrist guards, but they are worn on special occasions by both men and women. This example shows a classic old stamped and worked large rectangular pattern of silver with a large oval polished cabochon of turquoise at the center framed in rope silver from the Sleeping Turquoise mine. On either side of the center piece shows two fanned out pieces of sterling silver, all three tied onto the thick leather cuff through the sterling loops. Truly a fantastic example. The cuff measures 3 1/8"W by 10.25" long the outside from end to end. Total weight is 86.2 grams.