A Broad Engraved Cuff Bracelet by Bruce Caesar, Pawnee/Sac and Fox. Signed “B. CAESAR.”

A broad cuff bracelet distinguished by an expansive geometric composition and gently scalloped edges. At the center, a diamond-shaped panel encloses a four-pointed star within a circular border of closely spaced impressions. Small leaf-shaped cuts and rounded scallops articulate the surrounding frame, beyond which a larger angular star extends across the bracelet’s width.

Densely worked passages of fine engraving alternate with smooth bands of metal, giving the design a pronounced contrast of texture and reflection. Related motifs continue toward the sides, carrying the decoration around the curved surface. The interior bears the maker’s stamp, “B. CAESAR.”

Born in 1952, Bruce Caesar learned metalworking from his father, the Pawnee artist Julius Caesar, beginning in childhood and demonstrating the craft alongside him by the age of nine. His work developed within a family tradition of Southern Plains metalsmithing while allowing considerable scope for individual invention. In 1998, he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The cuff format provides a substantial surface for this concentrated treatment of geometry. A pair of nickel silver cuffs by Caesar, dated 1976, is preserved in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, documenting the form within his established repertoire. The example offered here is particularly effective in the relationship between its finely textured fields and the broad, uninterrupted outlines of the star design.