Oval Silver Buckle

Heavy silver belt buckles were among the very first things Spratling's workshop made, and this oval buckle belongs to that founding line of objects.

Morrill records that the earliest Las Delicias pieces were simple half-dome earrings and heavy belt buckles, and that the early buckles "embodied cord designs derived from saddle ornaments" drawn from Mexican leatherwork (Morrill, p. 39). The buckle was a form the workshop made its own from the start.

This one came in two sizes. It dates to the First Design Period, 1931 to 1946, the years that established Mexican modern silver.