Vintage Diné Silver and Turquoise Ring, circa 1930s [SOLD]

This vintage Navajo silver ring has a dark green diamond-shaped turquoise gemstone resting on top of a wide silver band with stamped designs of an Edelweiss blossom, a whirling log or swastika design, and a pair of crossed arrows.  This design is repeated on each side of the silver band.

It is unusual to see an Edelweiss blossom since it is a flower of the Alps in Europe.  The swastika-style whirling log design was voluntarily suspended by the Native Americans during the 1930s.  The intensity of the green turquoise and the whirling log design are good indications of a 1930s or earlier date on this ring. 

“The Nohokos, a Navajo word for the whirling log ... design, was an ancient American Indian element found in everything from petroglyphs to basketry to textiles.  The whirling log symbol was, and has become again particularly sought by patrons of Indian arts. . . . But Nohokos was a cultural symbol among the Navajo, variously defined as ‘Start-Going-Around’ and also as ‘good luck.’”  June 2013:32

Condition: this Diné Silver and Turquoise Ring, circa 1930s, is in very good condition

Provenance: from the collection of a gentleman from the Midwest

Recommended Reading: June, Dennis. Fred Harvey Jewelry 1900-1935

Relative Links: Southwest Indian Jewelry, Navajo, Rings