Diné Two Strand Deep Red Coral and Turquoise Necklace [SOLD]

This necklace consists of two strands of highly polished tube-shaped deep red coral beads and small round turquoise discs that are interspersed between. Artists of the Navajo Nation and of the Pueblos have been cutting and shaping coral, turquoise and shell for millennia. Passed down through family members, the process requires patience and precision.

These coral beads were individually shaped to form rounded oval tubes. The coral is a deep blood red in color and the turquoise is sky blue in color.  They have been polished to a high sheen and strung.  The two strands are tied off and finished with silver cones and a silver clasp.  

The use of coral for decoration goes back 30,000 years to the stone age, when ancient man used it to decorate burials. Coral jewelry was made by Egyptians, the Mesopotamian culture, and the ancient Greeks. According to Greek legend, coral is seaweed that was turned red by the blood of Medusa after she was slain by the hero Perseus. The Greeks regarded coral as a powerful protector.

Native Americans began to use coral shortly after it was introduced to them by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. The red colored jewel intrigued them. Strands of deep red coral were valued and worn as a form of currency.  Today, coral is one of the most sought materials used by Native American artists.

Condition: excellent original condition

Provenance: this Diné Two Strand Deep Red Coral and Turquoise Necklace is from the collection of a resident of Colorado.

Recommended Reading: Contemporary Southwestern Jewelry by Diana Pardue with the Heard Museum.

Relative Links: Navajo Nation, Southwest Indian Jewelry