Petite Navajo Silver and Turquoise Squash Blossom Necklace [SOLD]

This squash blossom necklace is unique from its category in more than one way.  Most notably, how delicate the necklace is and especially, how refined the “blooming” beads are.  A strand of silver beads, uniform in size, cascades from a silver clasp down to the naja and is ornamented with sweetly refined squash blossom beads. Each silver bead is scored with ribs like a melon.

The naja is elegant and ridged— reaching in a horse-shoe bend towards two sunburst silver circles.  It is stamped with half-moons and serrated lines.  The turquoise chosen for this piece is exquisite.  Coppery colored iron pyrite webbing marbles a stunning blue oval stone.  A twisted piece of silver extends down from the turquoise and mirrors the naja’s horseshoe bend.  Finally, a single silver circular bead tops the turquoise like the star on a tree.  All of these elements combine to create a rare and covetable necklace. 

Early Navajo-made jewelry contained elements that were borrowed directly from Spanish colonial and Mexican ornament. One of these items is the naja, a crescent form of Moorish origin.  The Spanish conquerors in the Southwest outfitted their horses in elaborate silver ornaments—one of which was the naja that hung directly on the forehead of the horse as a part of the bridle.  It has been determined that the squash blossoms of such a necklace were actually pomegranate blossoms seen on the Spanish Mexican clothing, but the term squash blossom has and will continue to be used.

Condition: one squash blossom is missing a singular petal, and there is some patina to the silver.  Overall, this necklace is in very good condition. 

Provenance: this Petite Navajo Silver and Turquoise Squash Blossom Necklace is from a private collection

Recommended Reading: NAVAJO SILVER A brief History of Navajo Silversmithing by Arthur Woodward

TAGS: Southwest Indian Jewelry, Navajo, necklace