Azur Malachite Arrow Bracelet

Arrow links of azur malachite and silver run the length of this bracelet to a clasp shaped as a fist, joining the workshop's pointed-arrow motif to the blue-green mineral and a small figural fastening. The fist clasp turns the closure itself into ornament, a sculptural detail at the wrist.

The bracelet dates to the Second Design Period of 1949 to 1951, the years Spratling worked richly colored native stone such as azur malachite against silver across a range of jewelry. The arrow, a recurring linear device in his work of these years, here organizes the body of the piece.

It is recorded in Morrill's Maestros de Plata study and in Goddard's field guide. The combination of the matrix stone, the arrow links, and the figural fist clasp, together with its place in the literature, makes it a distinctive and well-anchored Second Period form.