Hello, I just bought this super nice belt buckle signed w/the hallmark, “STERLING R V”.
I’ve done a lot of searching on my own only to find two other pieces, one w/same hm and one w/same style & hm (in pic), both bracelets, and they both said “artist unknown”. I don’t believe it’s made by Roy Vandever unless he changed his hallmark for contemporary style art. ?
Could this be a collaboration of two artists?
It’s 2”x3” in size. A magnet wont stick, not even a strong one.The mountains are slightly raised. The pieces I believe were glued in as a piece of the mountain fell out before I even got it on. Lucky it didn’t break, I just had a jeweler re?glue it back into place. The piece that came out had thin pieces of the gemstones glued on another material and glued onto the buckle, as I would expect if real gemstones. The silver was slightly scored as if to help w/the glue adhering to the surface.
I’d rather it not be a fake, obviously. Funny thing is, it’s so nice and I love it so much that I’m almost afraid to wear it. Especially if it’s a rare piece. Maybe I can have it shrink wrapped for protection as I do wish wear it. I’m a BIG fella- 285 & 6’2” and about as gracefull as a Buffalo in an American Indian pottery museum, ha ha.
Any information about this, or similar Yei/Night Sky/Space inlay pieces would be greatly appreciated, Thank You for your time.
These are always difficult styles to tell, they are a style that is popular and have been known to come from over seas. Artist that are known for this style include Ervin Tsosie and Clayton Tom and both have plenty of samples online. I usually try to determine if the stones are real, that many times is an indicator of its authenticity.
This is a link to imitation block sold by Thunderbird Jewelry Supply. I would just take sometime and compare pieces. Do a search of Navajo night inlay on google images. Also, see how many buckles have a backing construction like yours, that be a technique of a certain artist. http://www.thunderbirdsupply.com/imitation-block
Thanks Jason, I’ll do more research. I revised the original post, as a piece just fell out before I got it on. Ug. I took to my jeweler friend and he repaired it. He seemed to believe the stones were real and really nice too. No matter where it came from or who made it, I really love it. I’m just not really keen on the idea of supporting counterfit con artists. The American Indian has been exploited enough and defiantly deserve great respect for the beautiful art they masterfully create. Buying fake art is like an arrow to the heart of these wonderful people. I wish it was easier to accumulate the proper information. I’m sure others on this web site may know something as well. Everyone seems to know their stuff. Anyway, Thank you for your reply, I appreciate you taking the time to help, Don Grace
