Spanish Artifact ? found in Utah

[dnyman]

Hello All,
I have in my possession an item that I'm trying to identify. I think it could be Spanish. The only thing I know about this is my Father brought it home about 50 years ago. The story I remember is that someone he knew found it in the desert. I have not done anything to it other than bring it out every so often to show people and ask if they know what it might be.
My opinion is that it is made of a low grade silver. It looks hand made.
http://home.comcast.net/~dnyman2/pwpima ... is%203.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~dnyman2/pwpima ... is%204.jpg
I was raised in Price Utah and the Spanish Trail goes through this area.
If anyone has any idea what this is or where I could get more information about this I would appreciate a link.
Thanks in advance.

[mahalla2]

This is just a wild guess but perhaps it was some type of fire poker or branding iron that would have hung from a man's belt and if that is the case the photo is upside down -

mahalla2

[Mike]

That is very nice. It looks like something that would be on display- my guess is it was part of a headstall or some other piece of tack. The Spanish-Mexicans- American cowboys- loved to decorate their horses.

[KsTHer]

I have given this maybe too much thought, but looking at the piece, it appears that the maker was somewhat talented at working with silver wire. It could be that the artisan made this device to pull the silver wire tight around the artifacts that he was adorning in his craft. He would twist the wire around the loop end of the device and once he had pulled the wire tight on the artifacts that he was working on, he could slip the wire off of the loop by sliding the device out. I hope my description can be envisioned by all.