Silver and Turquoise Cluster Earrings [SOLD]

Treasured by cultures around the world, turquoise jewelry is representative of the sky, of protection, of healing and bringer of good luck and prosperity. The Navajo word for turquoise is “Doo tl’ izh ii”. It has been valued by the Native people of the Southwest for a millennium. Chaco Canyon, in northwestern New Mexico, was a center of trade, specializing in the distribution of turquoise from central Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. It has long been a form of currency for the Navajo people.  

The Navajo learned the art of silversmithing from the Spanish in the mid-19th Century. Since that time, they have become world renown for their artistic skill and creativity in working with silver and turquoise. This pair of cluster earrings is made in a very traditional style of Southwestern jewelry. Each consists of robin’s-egg-blue turquoise petals set in sawtooth bezels around a round central stone which is enclosed is a small twisted silver wire. Between each petal is a silver drop. The earrings are post earrings for pierced ears. They are signed with the artist Keith James’ hallmark, the stamped letter K.

Condition: The Silver and Turquoise Cluster Earrings are in excellent condition

Provenance: From an Albuquerque collection

Recommended Reading: Fine Indian Jewelry of the Southwest: The Millicent Rogers Collection by Shelby Tisdale