Pyramid Buckle

The pyramid was among Spratling's favorite jewelry motifs of the early 1940s, and this buckle, three silver pyramids ranged on each side, is the largest of the family, the model his workshop listed as the "grande." The stepped pyramid form drew directly on the Aztec and Colonial sources Spratling named as the basis of his First Period work (Morrill, Mexican Silver, 1994, p. 156).

Casting the pyramid in 980 silver, the alloy he preferred for its softer patina and resistance to oxidation (Morrill, p. 36), gave the faceted forms their crisp shadow and weight. The motif's geometry made it ideal for the kind of strong, graphic repetition his buckles favored.

The design was made in three versions, with two pyramids per side, a smaller three-per-side, and this grande model. It has since been reissued in a slightly altered form.

The buckle is recorded across the major literature, including the Cederwall and Riney Spratling Silver volumes, Morrill and Berk's Mexican Silver, and Goddard's Spratling Silver: A Field Guide.