Featured Large Openwork Conchos? an' Matching Buckle with Turquoise

There are 9 with copper-strap belt-loops, an' a matching buckle. Each are 3" long, 2 5/8" wide; their weight varies slightly between 1.6 an' 1.8 ozt. I'm not skilled enough to say whether they're sand-cast or not. The copper belt loops are ~1/4" wide, to accommodate a ~2" x ~1/8" leather strap.
Each have unique turquoise nuggets in bezels, an' judging by color an' inclusions, from several mines; the two shown seem to be from the same mine. None of these have any markings at all. I haven't had them tested for alloy; I believe they are silver, but whether .720, .800, or .925 will have to be determined subsequently.

Every definition an' pic of 'concho' I've found ignores open-work like these, so I would like to know what these may the called, if not conchos. In addition, the theme of the four faces, an' arms with fingers, may have tribal or other significance; can any of you say what it means, an'/or what region or tribe might be responsible? I'm, as always, most grateful for all your comments an' suggestions. Thanks for lookin!

 

wow...never seen anything like it that's Native American..

 

Buckle and belt slides.
Concha means shell, so by definition conchas or conchos aren't openwork.

 

Thanks...do they appear at all familiar to you, AJ?

I can't imagine these were made very far from available turquoise...so SW U.S., or how about Mexican?

 

Look ye here..."...each concho containing four...hand carved Yei Bi Chei figures." Both sites say Navajo, an suggest early work. I'll check out the Yei Bi Chei an' report.

https://ciscosgallery.com/products/navajo-sandcast-belt-buckle-q758

https://nativoarts.com/products/opu...oise-silver-concho-belt?variant=2869798469656

 

This, from Wikipedia:
Yei bichei (Yébîchai), or "maternal grandfather of the yei", is another name of Talking God who often speaks on behalf of the other Holy People. (He, along with Growling God, Black God, and Water Sprinkler, were the first four Holy People encountered by the Navajo.) He is invoked (along with eight other male yei) in the "Night Chant" or "Nightway" (Navajo: Tłʼééʼjí or Kléjê Hatál), sometimes simply called "Yei bichei," a nine-night ceremony in which masked dancers personify the gods.

 

Well, now I've seen others...and have bigger doubts ....
the Cisco.....a poorly....unconventionally set stone , which is mine identified ??? , and asking 550...

the Nativo..... eight pieces....extremely rare.... 5 grand......discounted to just over 1 grand ???? .... with suspected mine origins......???
Why the give a way ????

those yet bi chei.........could be anything...imo...

 

I'll agree; the 2 links are each a little weird...an' when compared to each other even more so...lotsa questions there.
However I think the Navajo attribution, especially along with Yei bi chei (Yébîchai) as the four-figure motif...all of that is good progress, for me anyway.
Now to get down to the casting method...which I'm now leaning against being sand-cast...an' the turquoise-mine specifics, at least as far as pics of all the settings may be helpful.
When (if) the sun ever comes out again before the snow flies, I'll do my duty, shoot each of the nine, an' give y'all a look.

 

Tufa cast ??

 

The tufa stone molds are only good for 2 cast if your lucky,most likely they were sand cast. https://www.shopgarlands.com/blogs/news/tufa-cast-jewelry

 

Once again, I could be wrong, but 7th image down, the area where I've marked green looks like there's some writing within........Some looks like it could say partial- "JAK or H and maybe an N"............???

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"Yei" refers to the Holy People. "Yeibichai" refers to human dancers who impersonate the Yei in ceremonies.

You can see an example of the different forms of representation here, on rugs -
https://www.navajorug.com/pages/navajo-yei-holy-people

The figures on your belt pieces appear to be Yei (if actually Navajo).

 

Nope...looked with good light an' a loupe; no joy. Thanks, tho'!

 

Here are the full set, still in zipper-bags. Several of them show less-than-optimum attention to the orientation of the copper loops, so the belt would be straight through the long axis. Note also the (apparent) various turquoise sources.

 

Pieces from a single mine can look different,see link https://waddellgallery.com/pages/turquoise-materials

 

What a precious site...Thank you, Holly!

 

nice that you have a belt full !!!

 

I believe these were sand cast.
The turquoise looks like high grade Chinese.
It's very nice!!!