Navajo
American Southwest
1960s
Sterling silver and natural turquoise
Length 26 in / 66 cm
Naja 2 3/4 x 2 1/8 in / 7 x 5.4 cm
223.17 grams
Provenance: Private collection, Albuquerque, New Mexico
This Navajo necklace pairs a double strand of silver beads with a sand cast naja at the center front. The naja is cast from a carved mold, giving it a heavier, hand worked surface, and it holds a single natural turquoise at the top above a small cast form at the center of the crescent. Plain silver squash blossom drops run along the lower strands, left unset so the turquoise in the naja stands alone.
Sand casting is among the oldest Navajo silver techniques, in which molten silver is poured into a mold carved from soft stone. The naja descends from Moorish metalwork and entered Navajo silver as both ornament and protective motif, here given weight by the cast crescent and its single stone. At 26 inches and just over 223 grams, the necklace has the substance of a piece made to be worn for ceremony and display.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Navajo
American Southwest
1960s
Sterling silver and natural turquoise
Length 26 in / 66 cm
Naja 2 3/4 x 2 1/8 in / 7 x 5.4 cm
223.17 grams
Provenance: Private collection, Albuquerque, New Mexico
This Navajo necklace pairs a double strand of silver beads with a sand cast naja at the center front. The naja is cast from a carved mold, giving it a heavier, hand worked surface, and it holds a single natural turquoise at the top above a small cast form at the center of the crescent. Plain silver squash blossom drops run along the lower strands, left unset so the turquoise in the naja stands alone.
Sand casting is among the oldest Navajo silver techniques, in which molten silver is poured into a mold carved from soft stone. The naja descends from Moorish metalwork and entered Navajo silver as both ornament and protective motif, here given weight by the cast crescent and its single stone. At 26 inches and just over 223 grams, the necklace has the substance of a piece made to be worn for ceremony and display.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
