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Prehistoric Indians mined turquoise and turned it into jewelry
consisting primarily drilled beads and other ornamental object.
Extensive confirmation of prehistoric mining operations has been
found in numerous areas: the Cerillos and Burro Mountain regions
of New Mexico, the Kingman and Morenci regions of Arizona, and
the Conejos region of Colorado.
Further evidence of turquoise originate in Hohokam excavations
in southern Arizona dates back to 200 B.C. Likewise, turquoise
from central Mexico dates back to about 600–700 B.C., from
South America, 900 B.C., some even earlier.
Jewelry styles were diverse in every American Indian tribe, but
the differences were less marked than with other arts forms,
because jewelry and the materials used for making it was
essential trade object prior to European arriving in America.
After colonization, Native American jewelry making traditions
remained unyielding, rather than being replaced by new resources
and techniques. After Navajo, Hopi and Pueblo artists learned
silversmith from the Spanish in the 1800's, metal jewelry arts
flourished in the Southwest, with distinctive Native American
jewelry such as turquoise inlays developed from the blending of
the new techniques with traditional designs.
The most primitive work consisted of hammered work with engraved
by handmade designs Turquoise was an extremely popular and
appeared in silver jewelry around 1880. It is important to note
that turquoise, as a jewelry item, had existed for centuries
first noted in the Hohokam excavation. It had been used in
combination with other stones, shells, and metals long before
1880. Even so, the early Indians attached the turquoise to the
stone, shell or metal.
Early on silversmith used Mexican and U.S. coins for their
silver. Often, received there metal from locals, in the variety
of candlesticks, tea pots, etc. to melt for their work. They
preferred to use melted Mexican silver coins because of the
convenience (9275 fine). The next preferable source was whatever
sterling silver was available (925 fine). Least desirable, but
most obtainable and resilient, was silver from melted U.S. coins
(900 fines). In 1890, the U.S. made it unlawful to melt or
deface (by soldering on hooks, eyes, jump rings or by
“doming”) coins for beads. However, this was complicated to
implement, and U.S. coinage continued to be used in the
developing silver industry. Now that there was a demand for
materials and tools, the reservation traders began to stockpile
the material need. Earlier piece were not marked but the
silversmith and dating items can be somewhat cumbersome.
Perhaps in no other area do personal and cultural aesthetics
come into play more than with regard to personal attire and
adornment. The preservation and presentation of items of
jewelry, therefore, necessitates an awareness by conservators to
the way these materials would have been worn and cared for by
their original owners. During two recent projects involving a
condition survey and exhibition of Southwestern Indian silver,
an opportunity was provided to gain valuable insight to the
cultural and historic context in which these objects are/were
made and used. In both projects, collaboration with American
Indian consultants was a distinguishing factor. Discussions and
demonstrations with Pueblo and Navajo silversmiths provided a
working knowledge of the craft and influenced conservation
decisions about what was considered "damage,"
"appropriate" appearance, and the treatment approach.
Southwestern silverworking, despite its relatively short
history, has evolved through many stages as the technology has
changed, as sources and availability of materials have shifted,
and as influences on the Native craft and taste have occurred
from within and from outside the culture. All of these factors
directly affect how these objects look, age, and respond to
conservation treatment. Even the supposedly "simple"
process of cleaning and polishing silver jewelry for exhibition
requires some knowledge of that history. In this process, it is
important to recognize too that the dark "patina"
valued by many non-Indian collectors, as a sign of age or as a
pedigree for "pawn" silver, would be considered
unpolished by Native Americans in the Southwest who, for the
most part, polish their jewelry to a high degree.
Silver objects from different periods and tribal origins will
often have a different quality of luster and will polish
differently even though similar methods are used. The quantity
of silver present and the surface finish may vary greatly
depending on whether a piece was made by the earliest Navajo
smiths of melted-down American coins or the more silver-rich
Mexican "pesos" which were used after 1890 and
produced a softer, "warmer" metal. In the early 1900s,
slugs from federal mints were used and later commercial sheet
silver of varying gauges and finishes was available on
reservations, affecting both the technology of working the metal
and the visual effects of the piece. Similarly, silver that is
pounded flat or hammered into molds may vary in its surface
appearance and degree of shine from early cast pieces which
often have a more irregular and even a textured surface.
Mechanical buffing wheels, which came into use in the 1940s,
gave a very different surface quality to pieces, compared to the
sandpaper and abrasive powders used in early hand polishing
methods. From early silversmiths through contemporary
craftspeople, silver workers have intentionally darkened or
oxidized the silver in recesses or stampwork and surface
decoration to enhance contrasts. However, the appearance and
durability of such black oxide deposits may vary with the method
used to create it, and thus may be more or less vulnerable to
insensitive efforts to clean the jewelry today.
Such information on the history, technology, and influences on
jewelry making and use in Southwest cultures can help
conservators more accurately assess the condition of these
objects: (1) by distinguishing characteristics or flaws of
manufacture from later damage or deterioration, (2) by revealing
links between the quality of tarnish and polish on some pieces
and the source of the silver that was used historically and how
it was worked, and (3) by reminding that these objects were used
by people with distinct intentions and aesthetics.
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