Diné Deep Sterling Silver Bowl Shaped Ashtray with Stamped Designs

This sterling silver ashtray dates from the mid twentieth century and was made by a Diné craftsman.  It has a deep bowl that is elevated on four curved silver wire legs. There are two cigarette holders.  The deep bowl was decorated with traditional Diné jewelry stamps—ovals, arches, and parallel lines. Around the edge of the bowl is a continuous line of semicircles with short sunrays.  The cigarette holders were stamped with an oval comprised of similar semicircles.

Condition: very good

Provenance: this Diné Deep Sterling Silver Bowl Shaped Ashtray with Stamped Designs is from an extensive Washington, D.C. collection

Recommended Reading:

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

- Masterworks and Eccentricities: The Druckman Collection

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