Diné Stamped Silver and Turquoise Lidded Pill Box [SOLD]

C4281-03-box.jpg

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Jeweler Once Known
  • Category: Silver Objects
  • Origin: Diné of the Navajo Nation
  • Medium: silver, turquoise
  • Size: 1-1/16” x 1” x ½” deep
  • Item # C4281.03
  • SOLD

This charming Navajo sterling silver handmade pill box is almost square in shape.  The lid is attached with a handmade hinge. There are well-organized and balanced stamped designs on the lid. The lid is also adorned with an oval and domedl beautiful blue turquoise gemstone.

It is incredible that a silversmith could work with such precision and artistic style on such a miniature scale.  The silver box is a fine work of art from a time period that doesn’t exist anymore. These were made to sell to tourists coming to the West on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.  These silver boxes migrated all over the United States territory (New Mexico wasn’t a state until 1912). 

Note: when we say Diné, as opposed to Navaho or Navajo, we are referring to the people and not the government.  Since 1969, their government refers to itself as the Navajo Nation. 


Condition: this Diné Stamped Silver and Turquoise Lidded Pill Box is in very good condition

Provenance: from the large collection of silver objects of a gentleman from Washington, DC

Recommended Reading:

Masterworks and Eccentricities: The Druckman Collection

- Navajo and Pueblo Jewelry and Metalwork 1880-1950 by Robert Bauver

Relative Links: Diné of the Navajo NationSouthwest Indian Jewelry: Silver Objects

Alternate View of this box.
Jeweler Once Known
  • Category: Silver Objects
  • Origin: Diné of the Navajo Nation
  • Medium: silver, turquoise
  • Size: 1-1/16” x 1” x ½” deep
  • Item # C4281.03
  • SOLD

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