Information Wanted on This Item

[Tearlag22]

Hi everyone, I have a sterling silver belt buckle I am looking for information about. It appears vintage Native silver, with two symbols similar to Mayan or I'm not sure. I don't have any other information on this item and it is just being kept as a sentimental piece. There are two stamps with STER on the back, as well as a trio of images, that look like Ks or possible birds.







Thank you in advance for any help!

[Aguest]

:::::: Peru made a lot of silver for the tourist trade in the 1950s and 1960s and 1970s and often an image of the great god Viracocha is depicted and I think the image on the right is a very worn image of the great god Viracocha ::::::: I have never seen the image to the left, I really am not sure what it is, but it seems to be snake-like things emanating from a central origin (which is similar to the image of the great god Viracocha). ::::::

:::::: Best guess is that this is from Peru, have no idea who the 3-bird hallmark is, but I think it is safe to say there were hundreds of silver artisans working in Peru in the mid-20th century (in Mexico there were definitely thousands of independent silver artisans, and we still find marks from Mexico artists that we can't identify, seems like a similar case for the artisans in Peru from the mid-20th century). :::::::::

::::::: (The Inca culture is from modern-day Peru and the Inca adopted myths about the great god Viracocha from an even earlier culture). :::::::

::::::: It's kind of a unique-looking piece, maybe cast in a way so the back has all those little pock-marks like that? Maybe sand-cast? Another method of casting? I've not seen anything quite like this before. ::::::::::::::

[Tearlag22]

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to this post. I am going to further investigate the god(s) you mentioned. I have had a very hard time getting any information, but some people I asked did say Inca or Mayan. I sure appreciate your help and knowledge!