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Three vertical silver balls set into an incised three-sided frame make up these First Design Period earrings, a compact design built from two of Spratling's favorite elements: the applied ball and the incised line. The frame's open three-sided geometry keeps the composition light.
Both elements come straight out of the early workshop's hand technique. Small silver balls were formed by melting cut rings of wire, and incised line was cut by hand into metal hammered flat without rolling mills (Morrill, Mexican Silver, 1994, pp. 36, 39). These earrings are essentially a study in those two basic moves.
The grouping of three balls echoes the vertical-ball motif Spratling used across bracelets and belts, so the earrings belong to a recognizable family of designs built from the same vocabulary.
As a small piece assembled from signature elements, the pair is a useful, accessible example of how Spratling's First Period vocabulary scaled down to the ear. Earrings of this type remain collectible within his documented output.
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