Silver Jewelry Guide

During the second half of the 19th century, through trade, observation, and the assimilation of ideas, Native Americans adopted the skills necessary to become master silversmiths by emulating some of the silverwork of the Spanish, while also utilizing some of the stamp designs of the Mexican blacksmiths. Already experienced jewelers, the adaptation of foreign designs did not interfere with Native American innovation or originality when creating silver jewelry.

Early Silver Jewelry Techniques

Produced for everyday wear, the majority of silver jewelry during the 1870s through the early 1880s was heavy in weight and minimal in pattern. Working with the crudest of tools, early Navajo and Pueblo silversmiths used chisels in the method of scratching and engraving to create designs on bracelets and rings. Inspired by the iron punches used by Mexican blacksmiths in stamping leather, the Southwestern silversmiths made dies to imprint designs on silver, essentially allowing for a diversity of styles while implementing an easier means of achieving them. During this period, because of the inability to solder, silver jewelry did not contain any stonework. From the late 1880s through 1900, the railroad expansion into the southwest brought improved tools, which inspired new ideas for silver jewelry design. Two methods of design, repoussage and appliqué, persisted during this period. By hammering the underside of bracelets, pendants and rings, the method of respoussage enabled the creation of unique patterns. The technique of appliqué allowed the embellishment of stones and shell on articles of silver jewelry. By soldering slivers of silver onto articles of jewelry, turquoise quickly changed the view of Native American silver jewelry. The ability to adorn silver with stones aroused innovation among the Navajo and Zuni, while motivating the Hopi to adopt a style completely their own.

Navajo Silver Jewelry

The Navajo were the first of the Southwestern tribes to learn how to silversmith, and they incorporated silver in their jewelry primarily as a vessel for turquoise. Using the stone as the centerpiece in bracelets and rings, Navajo silversmiths fashioned the silver so as not to distract from the sky stone. Another form of silver jewelry, the concho belt, consists of square and oval discs of silver, often adorned with turquoise. Although early concha belts were plain silver attached to leather, improved skills allowed the Navajo to solder the discs together, creating the style of concha belt that is famous to the Southwest today. The squash blossom necklace is made of a combination of round silver beads, blossom shaped silver beads with slivers, resembling petals, protruding from the end of them. The squash blossoms, intermittently spread between sets of beads, are complemented by the naja, which is a crescent shaped pendant that hangs from the necklace.

Zuni Silver Jewelry

Inspired by their prehistoric ancestors, the mosaic shell work of the Hohokam and Anazasi motivated the inlay technique of modern Zuni silversmiths. By creating channels made of silver bevels, mosaic shell, spiny oyster, jet and turquoise are intricately placed on articles of silver, including bracelets, pendants, belt buckles, and rings. Two popular silver jewelry designs of the Zuni are the Knife-Wing, also known as Thunderbird, and the Dragonfly, represented by the double-barred cross, a fusion of prehistoric and contemporary designs. The double-barred cross is extremely popular among the Rio Grande pueblos.

Hopi Silver Jewelry

Advocating the beauty of the silver itself, Hopi silversmiths are renowned for their overlay work in constructing silver jewelry. The process of overlay consists of two sheets of silver of equal size. A design is cut out from one sheet of metal and then on top of the other sheet. The background, or whole, is then oxidized until it is black. The remaining silver that is not overlayed is polished to remove excess oxidation and to highlight the differences. One silver jewelry design that the Hopi are well known for is the Kokopelli, which is a hunched over flute player often decorated with jet, coral, white shell, and turquoise.

Cherokee Silver Jewelry

Advocating the relevancy of the Cherokee language in its present and historical context, modern Cherokee silversmiths have incorporated the importance of the written word through various designs of silver jewelry, including, but not limited too, lapel pins and bracelets, often engraved with the words Tsa La Gi, which, in their native tongue, translates to Cherokee.