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A beautiful historic Navajo “Revival”
style narrow cuff bracelet with ridged chisel-worked designs, c. 1940’s
The apparent simplicity of this bracelet is quite deceiving, it looks a lot easier to make than it actually was.
Simplicity and discipline such as that shown here is only attained through considerable skill and effort.
This piece is a back to the past sort of piece that has come to generally be known as a “Revival” type piece. In
the 1930’s there was a general feeling among Indian traders, museum curators, academics and collectors that traditional hand crafted Navajo and Pueblo Indian silverwork was declining, cheapened by mass production and
cut rate mass market manufacturing operations. Efforts were made by the U.S. Government's Indian Arts and Crafts Board, by the Navajo Tribal Authority and by a group of concerned independent Indian traders to enact and enforce various standards for guaranteeing the handmade quality of Navajo and Pueblo jewelry. In 1931, a group of prominent Navajo and Pueblo Indian traders started the UITA, the United Indian Traders Association organization
to create and enforce a set of quality standards.
In 1937, the U.S. Departments of the Interior’s Indian Arts and Crafts Board followed suit initiating the “U.S. Navajo” and U.S. Pueblo programs to this same end, administered and supervised by the great Navajo silversmith and educator, Ambrose Roanhorse. And, finally in 1941 the Navajo Tribal authority established The Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild also under the leadership of ambrose roanhorse. Together, these various organizations emphasized a return to the older classic way of making Navajo silver using only traditional methods and materials.
This beautiful 1940’s-era Navajo tufa cast silver bracelet is a product of this effort although it is not officially
a product of any of these three organizations. The bracelet has a sleek, streamlined strikingly modern looking design presentation, with precise, linear chisel work designs only. No fancy frills, no nothing extra, just clean, pure unfussed-over silver goodness; it’s a modern era “revival” of the simple purity of the traditional methods and aesthetics of the great Classic Navajo silver bracelets of 1870-1900.
The unknown Navajo silversmtih who made it made it beautifully in a completely traditional old-style manner emphasizing the beauty of the cast silver itself, unadorned except for a series of some very simple, very skillfully applied parallel chiseled lines forming a ridged design. It is very likely that this same silversmith also made pieces for the UITA or U.S. Navajo programs as well, just not this particular piece as it has no signature or hallmark,
but the style and most importantly the traditional craftsmanship and quality are the same.
As the first official Manager of the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild, the Anglo anthropologist and jewelry authority, John Adair in his seminal 1944 book “The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths” put the guiding philosophy as follows:
“The type of silverware that the guild promotes is similar to that which has been at the
Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Fort Wingate Indian schools; a revival of the old simple types
of jewelry, without sets for the most part. Emphasis is placed on cast work.”
The tufa-cast silver bracelet measures 3/4" in continuous width all the way around, The inner circumference end-to-end is 5 1/2" and the gap between the terminals is 1" for a total interior circumference of 6 1/2".
The bracelet weighs a very comfortable and easy to wear 47 grams or 1 5/8 ounces and is in excellent original
condition with some very nice age-appropriate wear and a fine soft patina from age and use. It is unsigned for
the maker, as previously mentioned.
Take a modern day step back into the historic past era of Classic Navajo silver with this striking looking,
finely crafted and easily wearable bracelet. It’s could easily become your “go to” every day piece. It spans
multiple generations in history and tradition, but its beauty and appeal are timeless.
Price $1,100
