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An X cut from obsidian and set in silver makes these cufflinks a study in stark geometry and dark stone. Obsidian carried pre-Columbian weight in Mexican design, and Spratling's workshop used it freely to give modern forms an ancient material (Morrill, p. 135). Here the volcanic glass takes the shape of a crossing rather than a figure.
The black X reads strongly against the silver, the polished stone absorbing light where the metal returns it. The form is abstract and modern, the material old.
Obsidian-set pieces are among the most characteristic of the Spratling line, and a clean geometric subject like this shows the stone used for graphic effect rather than representation.
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