Antique Indian Silver Jewelry

The art of Indian-crafted silver has flourished in the 20th century, all Indian jewelers trace their art to a Navajo named Atsidi Saani who taught blacksmith in Fort Defiance, Arizona, in 1850. (It is generally believed that the Spanish colonizers in the southwestern deliberately kept the techniques of metalworking from the region's native peoples.) 

When the Navajo people returned to their beloved Mesas and canyons in 1868, after four years of internment at Bosque Redondo, their new, more settled lifestyle has led to many changes. Among other things, no longer as they were nomads, they had greater opportunity to learn from each other. The People had long admired and used metal ornaments and horse equipment. They had spent brass and copper wire to create bracelets and coins to fashion buttons. Atsidi Saani used his metal-working techniques that apply to silver, and he began to teach others.

Tools were crude. Smith's improvised and created their own courts, bellows, and sandpaper. A blacksmith can only have a hammer and a piece of scrap rail to an anvil. Silver coins were melted or annealed in use. The Mexican peso soon gained new service among smiths, because it had a higher purity than the American coins. 

By the 1890s, traders took advantage of the new market with silversmiths and began selling tool and silver bullets.

Silver jewelry also served as barter on the reservation where the money was almost nonexistent. Traders took silver and turquoise jewelry as collateral, without giving a specific value to the piece, and customer acquisition debt was secured by the jewelry. Any peasant unclaimed after the agreed period of not less than six months were considered "dead" and the trader could sell it.

After 1950, the use of pawn as security prohibited on the reservation, but it continues to exist today on the border Reservation. Mature Indian jewelry (1880-1900) may seem crude by today's standards. Collectors of these pieces look for raised designs created with files and chisels, and not repoussé.

(Repoussage is the art of working the back of metal, usually with a hammer or stamp, rose produces surfaces, such as rounded Concha). As blacksmiths had better tools, they produced more decorated pieces.

By 1899, it was Fred Harvey Company provides metal panels and pre-cut, polished turquoise to create jobs through trade. The Smiths then sold back to Harvey a supply of cheaply-made souvenir jewelry to tourists.

Soon Harvey Company commissioning Indian style machine-made jewelry. Indians may or may not have been employed in the crafts of these assembly-line style pieces. Other manufacturers followed, produces earrings, bracelets, rings, brooches, pins, money clips, commemorative coins, spoons and other jewelry. The collectors of this souvenir jewelry - often called "Harvey House" or "Jewelry Workshop" - see his speed machined precision and uniformity, the influence of an Indian style, and relative fine lines. The pieces were generally small, medium to sell cheaply. Turquoise, when applied, have been treated or coated to harden and improve the color. Designs were usually stamped, and common motifs were Thunderbirds, lightning, and bows and arrows.

Differences between real and imitation silver work is subtle, a condition exacerbated by the tendency for blacksmiths to copy what is the most successful and profitable, as well as lowering their standards for tourists who often are looking for cheap souvenirs.

At the beginning of the 1900s silver jewelry continued to change, reflecting significant progress in tools and technology. Repoussé improved as the smiths learned to temper and harden their tools. Also, stamp work rose by dragonflies has acquired the technology and supplies to make stamps. This type of work the metal from the front was quickly adapted as a favored technique to improve repoussage or to stand alone.

An example of aesthetic development, or the way they finished silver to see the degree of polish to work. Currently, silversmiths prefer high while Polish silversmiths with 50 or 100 years previously lacked the electric buffing wheel. The older fashion left some colored or dark areas, to enhance detail.

Perhaps the best advice for potential collectors is always to buy from reputable dealers and to ask lots of questions about materials and techniques, and on the dragonfly. Today, almost anyone can silver signature or mark, or the decision maker can be identified. Look for the label and remember that in New Mexico, it is illegal to proffer non-Indian made jewelry as Indian-made. A reputable dealer should be able to provide proof of authenticity in writing. If there is any hesitation or evasion, find another dealer.

Many buyers think they should be treated turquoise sky. But much turquoise used today are treated with other means of strengthening it. In its untreated state, the stone is porous, often mottled, and marked with the imperfections or inclusions. There are different types of treatments, including coatings, dyes, infusion of curing, and even restore ground turquoise. Ask the seller about and how it treated turquoise. Of course, collectors, weigh the benefits of different types of treatments.

Finally collect Indian silver always be fun. It is still a very affordable art and collectibles have a wide range of styles and patterns. Learn about the history, techniques, materials and makers provide insight into cultures that are often trivialized by our mass society. A lovely, shapely piece of silver has universal appeal, it sounds good anywhere, anytime, with almost any outfit.