Round Rope Circle Bracelet

Six round rope-edged links separated by sets of three vertical balls make up this bracelet, which stands as one of Spratling's earliest bracelet designs. Its longevity is itself part of the story: the design was later reissued in a heavier, slightly less detailed form, and copies are plentiful, a measure of how influential the original became.

The rope edging ties the design to Spratling's foundational vocabulary. Morrill records that his early work "embodied cord designs derived from saddle ornaments" as a starting point for the new Taxco silver (Morrill, Mexican Silver, 1994, p. 39), and the rope-edged discs here are that idea in pure form.

The original was lightweight with an open back, reflecting the hand methods of the early workshop, where silver was hammered thin and small balls were formed by melting cut rings of wire (Morrill, pp. 36, 39). The spiral wire ornamentation on this example's pin hinges is a detail that appears on many bracelets of the design, though others of the same catalogue number lack it.

As a documented early design that was widely reissued and copied, this bracelet is a touchstone for distinguishing original Spratling production from later versions, exactly the kind of authentication question that defines collecting in this field.