Silver and Turquoise Cast Pin [SOLD]

Navajo silversmiths are known for their wonderful casting technique. Tufa casting, often erroneously referred to as sand casting, is one of the earliest techniques used by the Navajo smiths. Today, it is still accomplished in the same manner as it was 150 years ago.

This pin was cast in silver, then carefully polished and refined to a smooth finish, after which it was topped with a small round domed turquoise cabochon. This pin dates to mid-1900s and is in excellent original condition.

Provenance: From the estate of Transcendental artist Florence Pierce of Albuquerque who passed away in 2007 at the age of 89. She was best known for luminescent paintings made of pigmented resins on reflective surfaces. Her interest in abstraction began in the 1930s when she was an associate of the Transcendental Painting Group. The New York Times called her “the doyenne of abstract art in the Southwest” following her art exhibit in New York City in 2006.