SOLD
18,000.00USD+ buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2012 Jan 28 @ 18:53UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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An historic, early artifact from the glory days of the Hollywood cowboy comes Tom Mix’s personal Belt with early, 3-piece sterling and 10K one inch, Edward H Bohlin buckle set with raised gold scroll work. Very early, Bohlinmade football shaped maker-mark and the Tom Mix inimitable diamond TM brand. The Belt is also Bohlin marked and features 12 set-in silver, oval-shaped Navajo conchos with turquoise inset centers and eight Mercury head dimes dating from 1917-1927. The floral carved Ranger Belt is approximately 2” wide, measuring 38 1/2” across. Lot includes a reproduction cabinet card from The Miracle Rider (1935) showing Mix wearing the belt
Tom Mix, American Hero
Even though Tom Mix has been dead since a fateful Arizona car crash in 1940, there are still fans who remember him. He was, arguably, the most prominent silent era movie cowboy and is still the subject of debate about his extraordinary life story. The simple truths are that he was a working cowboy, a major star in the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show, a circus promoter and star, a huge star in the silent era, and a notable performer in sound films up to 1935.
Another certainty about Mix is that he was flamboyant in dress and appearance, wearing the finest of suits, Western shirts, boots, spurs, buckles and belts, watches, and other accessories. As a stylist, he had a deep influence on other stars of his day from Buck Jones, to Gene Autry and many others. With top pay for his movies, endorsed products, personal appearances, and other involvements. He could afford the finest of homes, cars, boats, and a vast collection of Colt revolvers, Winchester rifles, saddles, hats, and other gear. It is no surprise that when a young Edward H Bohlin first moved to Hollywood that the quality of his leather and silver goods appealed to Tom Mix and that the careers of the two are inextricably tied together. Much of the time from the early 1920s to 1940, Mix favored silver and gold mounted saddles, spurs, belts, buckles, and other gear by Edward H.Bohlin, the "Saddlemaker to the Stars."
The Tom Mix Miracle Rider Belt and Buckle
I have personally examined this important belt and buckle made by Edward H Bohlin in the early to mid 1930s that without doubt belonged to Tom Mix. The set is unique. Beginning with the three piece buckle set, it can be seen that there are similarities to Bohlin's classic 5A design. This can be seen in the buckle's pair of flowers at the top and bottom and by the size and overall design of each of the three pieces. However, this is the most expensive and time-consuming types of buckles to come from the shop. The gold floral overlay is artfully designed and not engraved, but chased so that there is great depth and dimension to the design. The vertical oval lozenge for the owner's initials is also gold, and the familiar design of Tom Mix's brand with the slanting top bar for the "T" angling from the left upright of the "M". The keeper is relatively plain with two flowers and the beautiful chased gold on the silver tip nicely matches the buckle itself.
The Bohlin marked belt is lined, sewn at the edges, and overlaid with Mercury dimes and featuring inlays of Navajo style conchos with center set stones of turquoise. Bohlin used this beautiful blue stone on a number of his custom saddles and other products. However, these conchos with hidden scalloped edges and stamped designs are clearly of native manufacture. It is not inappropriate to speculate that these may have been collected by Mix himself during his travels in the Southwest. He was making movies in New Mexico as early as 1914 and traveled over the years along the Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway lines. The style of these conchos is not unlike the goods offered at the famous Fred Harvey hotels and shops; it is not difficult to imagine Mix asking his friend Ed Bohlin to work them into a new belt for him
A survey of Tom Mix photographs, movies, and movie posters from 1910 to 1935 shows him wearing a variety of belts and buckles over the years. The first belts were plain with no decoration. By the early 1920s he was wearing a belt with an engraved silver four piece buckle set. By 1932 with the release of "Destry Rides Again," he is wearing a Bohlin concho belt with domed engraved silver conchos and a buckle set identical to the "Miracle Rider" belt buckle set being described here. Also in 1932, he wears yet another concho belt for the film "The Rider of Death Valley" and "The Fourth Horseman" with a similar or the same buckle set. This belt appears to have the same or very similar conchos to those on the "Miracle Rider" belt with turquoise centers.
While Mix's belts and buckles changed in the time period between 1932 and 1935, it was his last film a fifteen part serial entitled "The Miracle Rider" in which the present buckle and belt set clearly appears. Filming began in April of 1935 and the first release drew a strong review from the Philadelphia Enquirer which called the series "excellent" noting that "Tom Mix makes a big comeback." The series grossed over $1 million for Mascot pictures. Mix never made another film. It is likely that the buckle set and Navajo conchos are the same ones used on the earlier belts. I speculate that sometime in the 1930s the belt was replaced with the conchos being covered around the edges by the outer surface of tooled leather rather than being mounted directly on the top as in the earlier generations of the belt.
Summary
Most of the finest of Tom Mix's silver and gold gear is to be found in the Tom Mix museum in Oklahoma, at the Autry National Center and in other museums and well-established private collections. "The Miracle Rider" belt and buckle set are exceptional examples of his personal posessions and merit inclusion in the best of collections. Tom Mix was a Western star of lasting importance. This belt and buckle set are primary objects tied to his remarkable career.
James H. Nottage:
Vice President and Chief Curatorial Officer, has been with the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, IN since September 2001. Previously he was founding Chief Curator at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles. He has curated or developed more than 100 special exhibitions. Nottage holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wyoming and a master’s in Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program. He is also a graduate of the Getty Leadership Institute for Museum Management. Nottage has edited, authored or contributed essays to a dozen books and publishes frequently in historical journals and magazines. James authored Saddlemaker to the Stars: The Leather and Silver Art of Edward H Bohlin (1996), and the recently published, Generation, The Helen Cox Kersting Collection of Southwestern Cultural Arts (2010).
Auction Location:
200 N Centennial Way, Mesa, Phoenix, Arizona, 85201, United States
Previewing Details:
Thursday January 26 3:00 pm – 7 pm
Friday January 27 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday January 28 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
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| Tax | Rate | Desc. |
| mesa |
9.05% |
mesa |
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Infinite |
20% |
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