Origins of Concho Belts & Concho Jewelry


Concho Belts & Concho Jewlery

Concho belts are among the most recognizable pieces of Native American Indian jewelry. Conchas (named after the Spanish word for shell) are round or oval disks of silver.

Although this writer and relator of historical data at first thought the jewelry form known as “concho” was a Native American Indian depiction of the freshwater mussel shell, also referred to as “conchas” or “conchos” by the Spanish, this is not true. More likely, the word refers in general to buttons or button-shaped, as mussel shells were used to create buttons, both historically, and into near-modern times. It is most probably that the round and oval-shapes of the jewelry form was reminiscent of buttons, or button-like in nature, and that Spanish settlers referred to buttons as “conchas” by virtue of the common mussel shells that were used to make buttons.

Where confusion stems from is also that Native American Indians did use mussel shells as trade goods, using the pink-purple interiors in jewelry, and also incorporated into some hand tools. Archeological digs have revealed that mussel shells were traded widely, and were used in fetish or talisman jewelry; and the shells may have always served as “buttons” or fasteners. Too, since the first use of the hammered metal concho was in belts produced by Native American Indians, it is possible to give half-credence to the notion that mussel shells may have been strung on belts in ancient trade exchanges, too.

And so, conchas, also called conchos, are used in groups to decorate belts. The belt itself is called a "concha belt" or sometimes a "concho belt." Similar to the origin of the Squash Blossom Necklace design, the concha belt is yet another example foreign elements of design which the Navajo People adopted, reworked and developed into a signature piece jewelry and a symbol of the Navajo nation. They may have borrowed this element from the Mexican bridle ornaments (originally brought to Spain by the Moors of Northern Africa) or from the oval-shaped hair ornaments worn by the Plains Indians, then adding designs copied from the leather stamps of the Spanish and Moors. All in all, the form is adaptation, artistic exploration and interpretation that is now considered uniquely Navajo. The circular or oval shape is one of the most pleasing of all artistic forms, lending itself to many expressions of the form in nature, the most obvious being the Sun and Moon and Stars.

Concho belts began to appear on Navajo reservations in the 1870’s. The very earliest form, know as First Phase, concha belts had round concha forms with a slotted center through which the piece of leather constituting the belt would be threaded. These round conchas were simple in design form, and were typically made of heavy-gauge silver, often hammered out of single Mexican or American silver dollars, with a decorated outer edge. They were made by all hand die stamping. When Navajo silversmiths began to use soldering techniques, copper loops were soldered to the back of solid conchas for threading the leather belt. As this technique became preponderant, in the 1890's, the open center was no longer functional and was replaced by an oval or diamond-shaped stamped pattern. The large center rosette was embossed by the use of a male and female die.

Because they were copied from harness buckles, early belt buckles were small. Between 1900 and 1920 turquoise stones and butterfly spacers appeared, along with repousse work, a decorative technique in which handwrought silver is hammered from the reverse side to create embossed or raised design.MBR>
The early 1900's saw new design elements in concho belts. Buckles were added to the belts, as were vertical plaques known as "butterfly spacers". Turquoise stones were set onto the conchos, spacers and belt buckles.

After 1920, the sizes, shapes and designs of concho belts began to vary greatly as a response to demand from the tourist trade. Craftsmen learned quickly that unique and different styles were prized by consumers, and did respond to that demand. A great variety of style interpretation in concho belts continues through the present. From the simplicity of form and function of First Phase design to the elaborate multi-stone treatment, concho belts provide an exquisite display of the Navajo sense of beauty and the quality of their workmanship.

Equally appropriate for a man or a woman, the belts remain an opportunity for the silversmith's creativity, ability and artistic expression. Most concho belts are not made to thread through the loops of waistbands, and are made to be worn over shirts worn outside the pants, or draped over the waistline or hipline a skirt.

In jewelry forms, the concho appears in necklaces, rings, bracelets, hair accessories, and the like. Again, the simple circle or oval shape lends itself to graceful interpretations of the wearable art of the concho. In the jewelry form we see the addition of turquoise and other stone most predominantly, either as set stones or used in inlay fashion. The use of different types of stone also incorporates the traditional Native American Indian spiritual meaning of the stones, the wearing of which imparts certain protections and powers to the wearer, in addition to the decorative and meaningful spiritual forms used in the embellishing of the silver portions of the concho.




 

Concho Belt Design


  • Navajo Silversmith in summer dwelling with his hand-wrought silver concho belts and jewelry for sale - Courtesy Museum of New Mexico

    Early concho belts were made with loops cut out in the middle for threading the leather belt, known as 'Phase One' Concho Belts

    Later concho belt design with copper loops for threading of the leather belt soldered to the back of the silver concho, also incorporate the butterfly spacers design enhancement


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