Small Square Navajo Sterling Silver Lidded Box [SOLD]

Small silver Navajo lidded boxes such as this one are convenient for use as pill boxes but more frequently are used for display purposes.  A group of a half dozen or more arranged on a coffee table is quite an attractive display. They have been made in a variety of sizes and shapes, with or without turquoise on the lid, and with turquoise placed in the Diné style or in the inlay style of the Zuni, are some of the varieties.  This box is very much in the Diné style.

In referring to the Diné style, the reference means it is very much in a balanced and organized arrangement in accordance with the Diné belief in hozho, a term for balance and beauty.  Diné designs as on the lid of this box are very balanced and symmetrical.  There is nothing haphazard in the arrangement. Everything in the life of the Diné is based on balance with nature.

This small lidded box has arched designs on all four walls of the box and a stamped design of arches and triangles on the lid, with a beautiful blue turquoise gemstone set in the center.  It is a small artistic jewel.

Condition: this Small Square Navajo Sterling Silver Lidded Box is in original condition

Provenance: from the collection of a gentleman from Washington, D.C.

Recommended Reading:

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

- Masterworks and Eccentricities: The Druckman Collection

- Beesh Ligaii In Balance: The Besser Collection Of Navajo And Pueblo Silverwork by John Torres-Nez

Relative Links: Diné of the Navajo Nation, Southwest Indian Jewelry: Silver Objects