Navajo Brass Canteen with Zuni Knifewing Inlay [SOLD]

C3954H-canteen.jpg

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Artist Unknown
  • Category: Accessories
  • Origin: Zuni Pueblo, SHE-WE-NA
  • Medium: brass, turquoise, shell and jet
  • Size: 5" high x 4½" wide x 1½" deep
  • Item # C3954H
  • SOLD

Trader C. G. Wallace had Diné silversmiths and Zuni silversmiths and lapidary artisans working for him. Some of the most astounding pieces created in Wallace’s workshop were often collaborations between amazing Diné silversmiths and gifted Zuni stone craftsmen.


Considered to be one of the more difficult forms to construct, tobacco canteens are relatively rare compared to other metal objects and jewelry. Containers for tobacco were initially made by Mexican craftsmen out of leather. The Diné learned the art of working with silver in the middle of the 19th century from Mexican smiths. It is likely the canteen form was adapted from Mexican-style canteens and made with copper, brass and silver. Records show that the Diné were making metal tobacco canteens for American soldiers after returning from captivity at Bosque Redondo.


This unsigned brass canteen was likely a collaboration between an expert metalsmith and an extremely talented stoneworker. The product is unlike any tobacco container we have seen. The Knifewing is comprised of precisely cut turquoise, shell and jet. It is set in a mosaic style with the thinnest of pieces of jet separating pieces of turquoise, white shell and red spondylus shell.


The Zuni stonework was then set upon a round brass flask that has been shaped and stamped. The container has a handmade chain that attaches to a fabricated stopper. The colorful stones set on the warm brass is a win-win arrangement.  


Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Navajo Brass Canteen with Zuni Knifewing Inlay is from the collection of a gentleman from Colorado

Recommended Reading: Masterworks and Eccentricities: The Druckman Collection; Navajo and Pueblo Jewelry and Metalwork 1880-1950

Close up view of this tobacco canteen.

Artist Unknown
  • Category: Accessories
  • Origin: Zuni Pueblo, SHE-WE-NA
  • Medium: brass, turquoise, shell and jet
  • Size: 5" high x 4½" wide x 1½" deep
  • Item # C3954H
  • SOLD

C3954H-canteen.jpgC3954H-large.jpg Click on image to view larger.