A
| African Turquoise | Actually a form of jasper, african "turquoise" is completely unrelated to the stone it is often misrepresented as. A recent Google search turned up 9,630 sites selling african turquoise jasper jewelry, and of those, easily 90% or more misrepresented the stone as real turquoise. Conversely, a search for "african turquoise jasper" turned up a mere 2 pages, and of those, at least 2 sites were given for the proximity of the words "african turquoise" to the word jasper, not because the stone was fairly identified. This beautiful jasper is an acceptable substitute for actual turquoise if all you are concerned with is appearance, but the difference should certainly be reflected in the price; african "turquoise" is a much more plentiful stone and far less expensive than the real thing. A member of the quartz group, jasper ranges from 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale, making it a somewhat sturdier rock than turquoise. Jasper can contain up to 20% foreign materials, and it is those that give it its mottled appearance and colors. |
| Alloy |
A combination of two or more metallic elements or metallic and nonmetallic elements. The alloy is usually achieved by bringing the metals to a molten state under high temperatures and fusing or dissolving them into one solid solution. In jewelry, combining different metals is commonly done to augment the color, hardness and/or luster of the resulting alloy. Some common alloys used in jewelry manufacture:
Gold: Common gold alloys are made by mixing gold, silver, copper, and/or other metals to produce 14K, 18K and 22K gold, white gold (gold and nickel or palladium), rose gold (gold and copper), green gold (gold with silver or silver and cadmium), and blue gold (a recent gold color perfected by only a few jewelers). Sterling silver is a combination of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper, while coin silver is 80% silver and 20% copper. Brass is an alloy typically of 60% copper and 40% zinc. Bronze is an alloy of at least 60% copper and tin or other metals. Pewter is an alloy of low melting point metals including tin, lead, antimony, bismuth and sometimes a bit of silver or copper. U.S. manufacturer's are required by law to make lead free pewter. Nickel silver (also called German silver) is a white metal alloy of 70% copper, 20% zinc and 10% nickel. It contains no silver. Many people are allergic to nickel and because of this, the use of nickel silver in jewelry has been outlawed in some countries. |
| annealng | A metalworking process in which metal is heated and cooled to certain temperatures that make it more malleable, but also less brittle and more resistant to cracking. Annealing is essential to jewelry-making as a means of relieving stresses on metal that have built up while the metal was being cold-worked, that shaped by hammering, bending, or rolling without heating. |
| Argillite | A form of slate containing graphite, kaolin, pyrophylite and serpentine. Argillite is one of the older materials used by native North Americans in personal adornment; the use of argillite predates the arrival of Europeans to the continent. |
| Arrowheads, arrows | The use of arrows and arrowheads is popular among many native groups. The depiction of arrows and arrowhead on jewelry is a tribute to the importance of arrows as a material culture form. Many modern artists acknowledge their use of arrows as symbolic design. These may or may not have have symbolic associations for their makers. Non-native indian traders of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries deliberately urged the use of the arrow motif in antive-made jewelry. This said, historic and contemporary tourist jewelry often contains arrows or arrowheads that are devoid of any spiritual context. |
| Avanyu | See Water Serpent |
| awl | A pointed tool or iron or stell used to punch holes or incise surfaces, as in engraving. The awl is one of the oldest tools for decorative marking; awls were used extensively by early native silversmiths until they turned to die stamps and punches in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Many contemporary jewelers continue to use awls. |
B
| Backing | The materical that is placed behind set-in stonework in jewelry. Indian jewelers wrok with settings that cotain application of black epoxy to strengthen thin stones. Often, stones are cut thicker and do not need any backing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Badger | As the guardian of the south, the badger is one of Zuni's important fetish personifications of the six directions. Found depicted on Indian jewelry, and frequently associated with the qualities of agressiveness, single-minded persistence, and control, as well as kinship with the earth because of its burrowing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baroque | An irregular, rounded stone, glass or bead; also, an imitation pearl with an uneven or craggy shape and/or surface. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Beads |
Silver Barrel - a design for silver beads which describes the barrel shape, often with stamp work; one of the more contemporary designs; a challenging made-by-hand process.
Disc - a design for silver beads crafted by two separate discs, usually identical, then the silver is soldered. (See also: Heishi) |
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| Bear | An animal considered to be a powerful life force by virtually all indigenous peoples in North american and a meaningul symbol for use on native-made jewelry. The bear possesses many spiritual qualities and meant to be approached with respect. Associated with friendship, ferocity, power, strength and especially strength in the face of adversity. Sometimes with a 'heartline', extending from the mouth to the center of the body which represents the breath of life. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bezel | A ring or band of metal that surrounds a cabochon or faceted stone. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bezel Set | A bezel setting is a technique of setting a stone in jewelry. The stone is held in place by first soldering the bezel, or metal ring, to the base of the piece. Next, the stone is inserted and the metal is compressed tightly around the stone. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birthstone |
Birthstones have their roots in ancient astrology, and there have been many birthstone lists used over the years. The most common one today is based on a list first publicized by the U.S. jewelry industry in the 1950s. This list assign birthstones as follows:
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| Bola, bolo tie | A distinctive form of neckwear, resembling a string tie, created in the western United States as a man's personal adornment item, but now worn by both sexes. A bola is generally a length of braided leather with a central ornament on a slide and decorative metal tips. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowguard | A device worn by native men on their wrists to protect against the recoil snap of a bowstring. Navajo bowguards, called "ketohs", were made by early silversmiths starting around 1895. The bowguard, made from a combination of leather and other stiff materials (usually metal), is one of the few native adornment items used for a combined utilitarian and ornamental purpose that has escaped commercialization. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buffalo | The North American buffalo, also called a bison, has had a long association with Native Americans and serves as an important design motif. With its life-giving flesh and hide, it has, and continues to have, a deep significance to the peoples of the central and northern Plains; those affected by the buffalo gave it a connotation of healing and power. Images usually emphasize the hump over the buffalo's shoulders, its large head and its sharp, curved horns. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buffing |
A finishing technique in metalworking, often using lightly abrasive polishing compounds applied to the metal to increase the shine of a finished piece.
Early native jewelry-makers used a buff stick, contemporary jewelry now rely mainly on electrically powered buffing tools like buffing wheels that are mounted on machines that spin the wheels at speeds of up to 3,500 to 4,000 RPM. The polishing surface of the wheel is treated (or "charged") with a buffing compound. Each compound varies with courseness, applied to a different buffing wheel, as the coarseness (charged with different a single compound) gets finer and finer buffing until the final stage of polish. |
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| Burnishing | A polishing process using a smooth hardwood or metal tool (a burnishing stick) for rubbing. The burnishing technique was developed to shine small areas on a jewelry piece, often applique or overlay work. |
C
| Cabochon | A stone which has been cut with a rounded convex surface and a flat base. It may be high domed or almost flat and can be cut in round, oval, square or freeform shapes. A cabochon has no facets. This is one of the oldest and simplest cuts. This form of cutting is most often used on stones like turquoise, lapis, opals , various forms of quartz and other opaque and semi-opaque stones which may be cut either freeform or calibrated. Sometimes, lower quality precious and semiprecious stones such as ruby, amethyst, citrine and garnet are also cut en cabochon. By their nature, stones like drusy cannot be domed or polished and it is now common to call any stone that is not faceted a cabochon. (pronounced:cab-uh-shon) |
| Cerrillos or Cerrillos Turquoise Mine |
was one of the most important sources of turquoise for pre-Columbian peoples, for whom the stone had great social and religious importance. As early as 700 A.D., archaeologists Garman Harbottle and Phil C. Weigand reported in the February 1992 Scientific American, communities like Alta Vista in central Mexico were importing enormous quantities of turquoise from Cerrillos for rings, beads, pendants and disk mosaics used in burials. “Turquoise in this pre-Columbian ‘Mesoamerican’ society clearly was more than an extravagantly valuable possession,” they write. “The gem was also a metaphor for life in social and religious realms.” The Aztec sun and war god Huitzilopochtli, the Turquoise Prince, brandished a turquoise snake as a weapon; Quetzalcoatl himself was represented wearing turquoise earrings.
Today the old turquoise mines like Mount Chalchihuitl (an ancient Mexican name for turquoise) at Cerrillos no longer produce any significant quantities. |
| Charles Loloma (1/7/21 - 6/9/91) | Hopi, undoubtedly the foremost jewelry of Native American birth in this century. Loloma used nontraditional materials in combination with avant-garde styles and designs. Favored motifs included the Corn Maidens, Katsinas, and hidden designs made in the undersides of bracelets and pendants to reflect the "hidden" beauty of their owners. Loloma was one of the first Southwestern native jewelers to work with gold. He taught at various colleges since 1955, he played an important role in the creation of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. |
| Charoite | A rare and expensive mineral only found in Russia. It has a soft shade of purple to deep purple. Ribbons of a translucent cream color mineral runs through most pieces of Charoite. |
| Charoite | A rare and expensive mineral only found in Russia. It has a soft shade of purple to deep purple. Ribbons of a translucent cream color mineral runs through most pieces of Charoite. |
| Chasing | A process of applying decoration to a metal surface by using a specialized PUNCH and a hammer. The chasing tool, a type of punch, is normally an angled, pointed instrument. A jewelry-maker hammers the chasing tool along the metal surface in a manner similar to stamping, except the chasing tool is moved across the metal in a steady motion during hammering. The result is an indented, beveled line that looks like engraving, but no metal is removed from the piece. Chasing can be done to add textural highlights. |
| Chatoyant | This term is applicable to a number of different stones, Tiger's Eye is one example. A chatoyant gem exhibits a changeable silky luster as light is reflected within the thin, parallel, fibrous bands. This effect is due to the fibrous structure of the material. (pronounced: cha-toy-ant) |
| Chiklet |
A Southwester-derived form of ornament, most often a small squared cube or cylinder of mosaic inlay. A chiklet can be strung as an individual center ornament on a metallic chain or as spacers on a bead necklace.
The chiklet was invented in the 1980's by Santo Domingo beadmakers Marvin and Lillian Lovato. They are popular due to their light weight and delicate appearance providing a contemporary looking alternative to some of the heavier and more tradionally elaborate necklaces made by Native Americans. |
| Chip inlay |
A design technique in which small chips of turquoise, coral, or other material (usually pieces left over from lapidary grinding) are mde into a form of mosaic and glued (with epoxy) onto a silver surface. This technique is referred to by some in the Indian jewelry industry as "singer style," because credit for the first use of chip inlay, produced around 1961, is usually given to the Singer family of Navajo silversmiths. |
| Chyrsoprase | A gemstone variety of chalcedony (a form of quartz) Chrysoprase contains small quantities of nickel which is responsible for its apple-green color. It is cryptocrystalline, which means that it is composed of very fine crystals that cannot be seen as distinct particles under normal magnification. Due to its comparative scarcity and unusual green color, chrysoprase is one of the most prized varieties of quartz and commands top dollar for quality stones. Also spelled chrysophrase. |
| Citrine | A variety of quartz, citrine occurs in a color range ranging from light yellow to a brilliant orange that may be confused with fine imperial topaz. |
| Cochiti | A NM Pueblo, famous for figurative clay work |
| Color | For many indigenous peoples, colors possess symbolic significance. Many colors are associated with the sacred properties, fromlegends and rituals, of natural materials: green Corn, the yellow of corn pollen, white Shell, turquoise (the sky stone), various green stones and the black of obsidian and jet. Colors are assigned to the four cardinal directions. |
| Concho | An early decorative form for use on belts, seen first on Plains peoples, then stpreading to Southwestern native wear (by both sexes) and jewelry making: the concha was a plaque made of maetal usually German silver or silver, in either the round or oval shape, and often possessing a copper back on thick leather settings. (“shell” in Spanish) |
| Coral | Formed when small sea animals create living quarters, coral comes in colors ranging from ox blood red to vivid orange to palest pink. The pairing of red coral with blue turquoise is among the most beautiful contrasting gem combinations in the jewelry world, though coral can certainly carry jewelry pieces on its own. Coral is a very common accompaniment gem in turquoise jewelry, and its different hues of red can dramatically highlight the green and blue tones of turquoise. Civilizations throughout time located near shallow waters or those with established trade routes have utilized coral in their jewelry. In ancient times coral jewelry was particularly prized for its many believed supernatural benefits, including as a ward against accidents and a protective amulet against magic. Coral is also a symbol for the Life Force Energy, and is believed to help bring harmony to your heart. |
| Corn Maiden |
A popular motif for both conventional and innovative jewelry design in Southwestern Indian Jewelry, the Corn Maiden is represented as a woman with a corn-ear-shaped body, sometimes wearing a headdress.
In the traditions of the Southwest, the Corn Maidens brought the divine gift of instruction in the growth and cultivation of corn to native peoples. |
| Cotton wrap | A form of necklace finishing in which jewelers use tightly wrapped cotton strands to finish necklaces, especially by Navajo and Pueblo jewelers. This method is also called "squaw wrap," a term that many native jewelers find insulting. |
| Cross |
The criciform shape has existed as a design motif for personal adornment from the time of the earliest indigenous peoples in North America. With the arrival of Europeans to the continent, the Christian cross symbol was introduced. Cross-cultural variations on this design's symbolism often resulted.
In the Southwest, the dragonfly symbol of the Pueblo Indians closely resembled cross types, with its double bars and heart-shaped form on the end. Often cross necklaces are interspersed with silver beads. Many of these designs lost their references to the original European imported form and received generic names associated with their place of creation, such as the "Isleta cross." |
| Cushion cut | A form of stonecutting done with a squared outline and rounded corners; it is also known as "mine-cut" and is considered an older style of lapidary cutting. For inlay stonecutting, a similar shape is crafted that rasies the stone above the silver (or other metal) surface and the edges are shaped into a rounded, cushion-like form. This form is known in the industry as "cushion-style inlay." |
D
| Dancers | Dance is integral to the life of virtually all Native Americans, whether for sacred or social purposes. Because dance is one of the most distinctive elements of native culture discernable to outsiders, it has therefore become a major subject for native-made arts. The depiction of dancers is a popular design motif on Native American jewelry |
| Dead pawn | See Pawn. |
| Dealers |
The purveyors, or sellers, of antique and contemporary Native American arts; dealers have played a significant role in the encouragement of native-made jewelry.
Dealers in art and collectibles are expected to possess relevant knowledge and experience in recognizing and hangling those materials. Not all dealers in Indian arts may have established expertise on native-made jewelry. Ethical dealers will be candid about what they know and do not know. The problems involved in authenticating native arts has led to the creation of various professional organizations for dealers, such as the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association, www.atada.org; the Indian Arts and Crafts Association, www.iaca.org; and SWAIA (Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, Inc.), www.swaia.org. |
| Decoration |
Etched: Very faintly carved surface decoration Lightly Carved: Faint carving Medium Carved: Average depth carving Deeply Carved: Deeper than average carving Heavily Carved: Extremely deeply carved Faceted: Carved with a regular pattern of facets Grooved: Routed out in a line Pierced: The material has been cut completely through Inlaid: A space is routed out of the material, and a contrasting material is fitted into that space. |
| Depression Jewelry | see Santo Domingo Jewelry |
| Directions |
The four cardinal points north, south, east, and west, or the six cosmological directions that include the above as well as the upper (heaven) and lower (nether) regions.
Various colors, symbols, and sacred animals represent the four or six directions, according to the beliefs of the culture a native artist comes from. For example, the Zuni assign a guardian animal and color to each of the six directions. These representations of the directions have become part of the native jeweler's traditional design repertoire. |
| Doming | A form of decorative relief and shaping for jewelry. Piece of metal, such as silver, are made hemispherical or domed on the ends through the use of dapping punches; the artist hammers the metal into dapping dies (concave metal or wood forms) to produce the desired rounded shape. Doming is the prelude to the soldering together of hollow beads (see Bench beads). |
| Dragonfly | Native peoples throughout the North American continent appreciate the dragonfly, and it appears in many stories and legends. The dragonfly is a harbinger of summer rains and their life-giving force; it remains a design motif that is recreated in a variety of abstract or realistic forms. Also has been translated into a cross shape. |
| Drawn Silver | see Liquid Silver |
| Dreamcatcher | Although originated with the peoples of the Plains, such as the Ojibway, dreamcatchers are now made by a wide range of cultural groups throughout North America. The dreamcather is an object consisting of one or more feather-bedecked hoops with webbed centers, onto which small beads are attached. Most native artists say that dreamcatchers were created to catch bad dreams the let the good ones come through; the hoops also represent the sacred hoop, or circle of life, one with no beginning or end. |
| Dull | The term used to describe gems which exhibit an earthy or dull luster, meaning their surface does not reflect light very well. Plastic can be described as having a dull luster as is clay. Hematite that does not have a highly polished surface will display a dull luster. |
E
| Eagle | The chief of all birds, and an important design motif for use in jewelry. Native Americans prize the eagle as a personification of strength and courage. The eagle is sacred to many native peoples, such as the Hopi, and has a supernatural significance similar to that given to such legendary creatures as the Thunderbird. |
| Embossing | Process used in silverwork that creates relief decoration through the raising of a metal surface by striking the piece from its back side. This technique is related to the repousse process as worked by native jewelers. |
| Engraving | As a decorative technique, engraving involves the scratching of shallow lines or other tracks into a metal surface (similar to chasing). When engraving by hand, a jewelry-maker uses a specialized tool (a burin or graver) that has a highly sharpened point with of several shapes (such as square, round, oval or texture points); the object to the engraved is normally held down on an engraver's block |
F
| Fabricated | means a piece is made starting from scratch, with sheet metal, (silver or gold), and the forged, stamped, or textured as the design dictates. Then the findings are made or soldered , such as earring backs, or jump rings necessary for the piece and polish |
| Faceted | Cut with many facets or planes for light to pass through. Turquoise is generally never faceted. |
| Faceted |
One of the most difficult issues affecting the Native American jewelry industry. More than any other native-made decorative art, the Indian jewelry market has been subjected to both flagrant and subtle fraud. Key abuses occur int he misappropriation of designs, the use of imitation semiprecious and gem stones, false "aging" of metal and other materials and outright misrepresentation of the origins of jewelry work. So bold is the faking of contemporary Indian jewelry that foreign countries have used false names and stamps to brazenly copy popular designs and make their imported goods look like the genuine article. Southeastern Asia has been a longtime source of many such inferior, imitation copies,
Native peoples' livelihoods are directly threatened by these practices. The matter of representation is cricial in itself; whether an item is a fake or an honest reproduction depends on the application of terminology and the honesty of the seller. Those working in the Indian arts market recommend that consumers buy from reputable sources and seek more education about the works that interest them. Beware of the word "genuine", that is a legal loophole that does not signify Native American-made. Only the word "authentic" can be used for real Indian jewelry. |
| Feathers | Feathers have as much significance as the birds they come from, and are therefore useful design motifs for native-made jewelry. Feathers have been given a symbolic connotation of freedom and flight; they also denote birds as beings that travel between spiritual and physical worlds |
| Fetish | Used and made by all Southwestern Indian tribes, fetishes are objects which represent the spirits of animals or the forces of nature. Original fetishes were simple stones (or shells, turquoise or bone) which seemed to resemble people or animals, sometimes made more realistic by a carver. The Zuni people have the reputation of being the most skilled at fetish carving. Zuni tradition has six directions, each with its guardian animal fetish: the mountain lion, north; the bear, west; the badger, south; the eagle, the sky, or up; the mole, underground, or down; and the wolf, east |
| Filigree | Fine metal wire (usually silver) bent and soldered onto jewelry as design elaboration; filigree appears most commonly on Southwest Indian jewelry. Most experts point to filigree as being derived from Spanish colonial decoration, and having a strong influence on the Northern Rio Grande Pueblo-made silverwork |
| Filing | A form of surface decoration; native smiths used files and related tools as soon as they began to work with metal. Files are used to create repetitive groove markings, in enhance raised details, and also to finish off detail work, removing the rough or uneven edges caused by the casting process. |
| Findings | Commercially mass-produced metal parts for jewelry forms, such as ear screws and clips (for earrings), cones (for necklaces), clasps and catches (for necklaces). Jewelers purchase these ready-made items and attach them to pieces that might otherwise be all handmade. Most collectors feel that the inclusion of such parts should not affect an item's authenticity and they are the only mass-produced parts allowed to show at such prestigious native arts shows such as SWAIA'S Indian Market in Santa Fe every August. |
| Fire | Fire in a stone refers to the streaks and flashes of brilliant color(s) seen when the stone is rotated or moved in a natural or artificial light source. Opals are noted for their fire. |
| First Phase | A historical term used to designate the first decades of experimentation and development in Southwestern Indian Jewelry from 1868 to 1900. The term "transitional period" has been attached to the time between 1900 and 1930 when the craft developed further, aided by growing tourism. First Phase jewelry is considered highly collectible and usually involves high-end purchases due to their age and supply in the market. |
| Flux | A chemical barrier that keeps oxidation from interfering with the soldering process in metalwork. Types of flux include borax flux (in paste and liquid form), flouride-based compounds and combinations of boric acid and alcohol. Foxtail F The popular name for a form of strong, braided steel wire used for stringing contemporary necklaces. Many artists, dealers and indian traders restring older beads with foxtail wire because of its strength and durability. |
| Fred Harvey Company | -Style" jewelry. A travel and tourism company, in business from 1876 and 1968, that had a great impact on the promotion, popularity and commercialization of Southwestern Indian Jewelry and crafts. The company ran a string of travelers' services (called "Harvey Houses") at numerous stops along the railroads that ran from Chicago to the West Coast. The Harvey Company also created a type of tourist jewelry that popularized native jewelry across the country, still seen today in "Harvey |
| Freeform | A stone cut in an unusual or non-calibrated shape. In Indian jewelry, sometimes referred to as "Navajo-cut" because the Navajo usually cut their stones to save as much as possible, resulting in unusual, non-comforming shapes |
| Frog | An aquatic creature naturally associated with rain and water, making it a life-giving symbol. Frogs have been depicted extensively on ancient on ancient Pueblo pottery, in both realistic and abstract forms; such depictions include images of polliwogs - a sign of the approaching rainy season. Also seen in Zuni fetishes (stone carvings). Gaspeite G a very bright and intense yellowish green color. It’s a rather soft stone, and can be polished to a very nice shine. |
G
| Gemstone | Today, the common definition of a gemstone is any precious or semiprecious stone, rock or mineral. The explicit definition of a gemstone is a precious stone: diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald and precious opal. Semiprecious stones are any other rocks, minerals, or petrified material that is not classified as precious and which is used in jewelry or collected. Some semiprecious stones include: agate, topaz, carnelian, and jasper, lapis lazuli, jade and turquoise. |
| Genuine | It is common to see the following words when describing costume jewelry: amethyst, diamond, garnet, emerald, ruby, sapphire. These words should not be interpreted to mean the precious stones with these names. The terms are used only to describe the color of the non-precious stones. If the genuine stone is meant, it is usually indicated with the word genuine in the description. This general rule also applies to words for metals, such as gold, silver, copper, and pewter. When used to describe costume jewelry, they mean gold-tone, pewter colored, etc. |
| German Silver | a lesser metal that is not a pure form of silver, German silver is an alloy composed of 60% copper, 20% zinc, and 20% nickel. It is used in jewelry because of its low cost compared to sterling silver, and it can be stamped, soldered, and polished like silver. An alternative name for German silver is "nickel silver," despite the small proportion of nickel in the alloy. It is also called "white brass." Gold G A precious metal only rarely worked throughout the early historic era of native silversmithing, gold did not become an established feature of native jewelry-making until the 1960's and 1970's. Charles Loloma (1921-1991, Hopi) is frequently credited with being the first Southwestern native artist to work with gold, probably around 1953. |
| Green Apple Turquoise | while strictly speaking, green apple (aka apple-green) turquoise should be turquoise, which gets its bright yellow-green color from the addition of iron or chromium, it may also be mislabelled faustite, a member of the turquoise group. Faustite gains its green color from zinc. Both minerals have a matrix ranging from black to grey or greyish-white. Faustite rates a 5.5 on the Mohs scale while the true turquoise is rated 5 - 6 on the scale. Like blue turquoise, either mineral may be treated. For untreated green apple turquoise, look for "Orvil Jack" from Nevada's Blue Ridge Mine; its namesake did not approve of treated stone, and his survivors maintain his rigid standards of production. Other forms of green apple include Carico Lake Turquoise, which resembles Orvil Jack in color and appearance, and the darker Stennich Turquoise. All are mined in Nevada. |
H
| Hallmark | A traditional means of identiying the maker of a piece of jewelry, or as a statement of the piece's purity, for example, the use of "sterling" as a mark on sterling silver jewelry. While the practice of hallmarks was introduced to native jewelry-makers as early as the 1940's, most did not start using hallmarks until the 1970's. Hallmarks are a requirement for works sold at the SWAIA Indian Market, the Heard Guild Fair, and other important Indian arts venues. Virtually all contemporary native jewelers, whether they work in traditional or fine-art styles, use personalized hallmarks for their works. |
| Hardness | A hallmark is the official mark stamped or inscribed in metal which indicates the fineness of the metal and the manufacturer. For example, a hallmark of 925 indicates the piece is 92.5% fine silver while a mark of 14K indicates the piece is 14/24 gold (see karat). Hallmarks also indicate the maker of the piece. In Britain, a hallmark is required by law and it is illegal to incorrectly mark the metal content. In the United States hallmarks are not required by law, but are customarily used by artists and designers. The word hallmark originated in the Middle Ages in England, when silversmiths were members of the Guildhall. |
| Harvey Jewelry | see Fred Harvey Company |
| Heartline | A feature derived from fetish carving but one which has become a visual convention that appears on some native-made jewelry pieces, usually when a hunting animal is depicted. A line, often irregular or jagged, is drawn from the mouth to the body to reprensent the mystical force of the animal's breath from its heart representing the life force. |
| Heishe, hesche, hieschi, hishi | A term used to describe fine, handrolled beads, usually made from shell or turquoise; such beads were traditionally ground, drilled and strung into necklaces by jewelry-makers from Santo Domingo, San Felipe, and other Rio Grande pueblos. In Keresan (one of the Pueblo languages), "heishi" is the word for "shell". The term heishe now generally regers to small handmade beads made out of any natural material. (pronounced: he-shee) |
| Hogan | A traditional, one-room Navajo home of earth and wood |
| Hohokam | be the The early inhabitants of what is now south-central Arizona, who left evidence of their existence between 100 B.C. AND A.D. 1500. The present-day Pima and Tohono O'odham(formerly Papago) peoples are believed to descendants of the Hohokam. Various sources record that the first-known turquoise jewelry of the Southwest was found in their ruins. |
| Hollow beads | The earliest and most common form of handmade silver beadwork, developing over time among native smiths in various regions, but particularly in the American Southwest. Bead halves are stamped from sheet silver, domed, soldered together and then ground and polished until the solder line is flat. Handmade hollow beads are now considered to be a staple of fine art jewelry-making and are much prized. Modern jewelers can use a process for making hollow beads by machine stamping and buffing. |
| Howlite | Once called "white buffalo" by some Native Americans, grey-streaked white howlite is a soft stone rating 2.5 - 3.5 on the Mohs scale. Most notable for it's ability to masquerade as turquoise and some other semi-precious stones, howlite draws its name from that of its discoverer, Nova Scotian geologist Henry How. Often erroneously labelled "white jasper," howlite isn't jasper at all, but a much softer stone rating 2.5 - 3.5 on the Mohs scale. Its soft nature makes howlite ideal for carving, and slabs of the material are often painted with scenes and designs that make artistic use of the veins. Howlite represents patience and is often worn to help increase observation, memory, inner peace. It is said howlite reflects offensive behavior and is a good stone to wear to help positively resolve confrontation. Because of it's softness, care should be taken with howlite jewelry. It is found in most substantial quantities in Canada and California, with smaller deposits located in Germany and Serbia |
| Hubbell | A well-known trading post, best known for the Ganado design of Navajo weavings |
| Hubbell, Lorenzo | The Hubbell family and its leader, John Lawrence (later calling himself "Don Lorenzo") Hubbell (1853-1930), ran the noted Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado, Arizona. This post, now a national historic monument, was the site of various endeavors that promoted the development of Southwestern Indian-especially Navajo-arts and crafts. While Hubbell is best known for his encouragement of Navajo weavings into a strong local industry, he also took an interest in native-made silver jewelry. |
I
| Imitation Turquoise |
Because of the limited availability of natural turquoise, many types of imitations have been devised. There are three categories of imitations: Glass, or enamel substitutions; synthestic compounds, many with virtually identical chemical properties, and therefore hard to detect as imitations, and substitutes of other mineral metierals, such as azurite, chrysocolla, greenish chalcedony, luzulite and variscite, which resemble natural turquoise.
Plastic "block," also called "cake," is now one of the most common substitutes for turquoise on the market; many pieces, especially heishi, are made from plastic block and are simulated to look like the genuine article, even down to the creation of 'matrix' markings. Generally, fake turquoise feels denser and heavier than the real stone. Intense scrutiny through a high-powered magnifying loupe can sometimes detect glass, but he detection of imitations is difficult and certain tests involve handling, and possibly damaging, the stone. A technique developed in the 1980's using near-infrared spectroscopy is most promising in detecting imitation turquoise. |
| Inclusion | In gemstones, an inclusion is any solid, liquid, or gaseous foreign body enclosed in the mineral or rock. The price of amber can vary greatly based on the type of inclusions and clarity of the stone. Amber that contains complete bodies of prehistoric bugs or a well defined fern or leaf can bring a high price, while small bubbles of gas/liquid add only interest to the stone but do not increase the value significantly. |
| Indian Arts and Crafts Act | The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, P.L. 101-644 (104 Stat.4662), cosponsored by Representative Ben Nighthorse Campbell (b. 1933) of Colorado-himself a Native American jeweler, sets federal definitions for authenticity of native arts (including jewelry) and allows for criminal action (including fines and prison terms) against violators who create fakes and forgeries. Under the act, imitation goods must be represented truthfully; artists must be tribally enrolled in a federally recognized tribe, nation, or village; and imports require accurate labeling. In essence, the act is truth-in-advertising law that prohibits misrepresentation in marketing of native arts and crafts within the United States. |
| Indian Arts and Crafts Association | The mission of this international nonprofit organization, started in 1974, as stated in its membership brochure, is "to support the effective protection and ethical promotion of authentic Native American arts and material culture. Members agree to promote and preserve handmade native creations and aid buyers to find reliable sources of authentic arts and crafts. New members must have three reliable references and are voted on before being approved. |
| Indian Market | Native American arts. Also known as the Santa Fe Indian Market, this annual event is the largest all-Native American arts and crafts venue in North America. It originated in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1922. Put on by SWAIA, participation is juried and invitational; to enter this event, applicants must prove their tribal affiliation and produce works of outstanding aesthetic merit that fits SWAIA guidelines. During the market itself, booths are checked by SWAIA evaluators to verify that materials are authentic and items are handmade. Indian Market, held the third weekend in August, is a celebration in its own right, allowing attendees a good survey of the best in Contemporary |
| Ingot |
Metal cast into a block for storage; in a native metalworking context, silver coins (U.S. and Mexican) that were heated, melted, and poured into sand or volcanic stone molds to cool.
The revival-style trend has reinvigorated native smiths' interest in ingot and coin casting, and some contemporary jewelry-makers have rediscovered the concept of working with ingot silver. Consumers should be aware that disreputable producers of fakes and forgeries have also fastened onto the use of ingot silver process as a technique that can render modern pieces that are passable imitations of true older jewelry |
| Inlay | A jewelry design technique, used especially in Southwestern Indian jewelry, in which colored material, usch as shell or turquoise, is glued onto a base. The combined stone is then cut and polished to look like one piece. Any stones can be combined to achieve different results. The Zunis have proved the most adept practitioners in both mosaic inlay and channel inlay. They mosaic inlay is created by making a mosaic of different colored stones and bezel setting them in rings, bracelets and pendants. In the 1970's, Zuni jewelers began a variation on the inlay process by creating a new technique called "overlay inlay"; the overlay technique is fabricated, involving the use of a backing and a cut-out design. However, while most jewelers would then create a textured or oxidized surface for the cut-out design onece it is soldered onto the backing, the Zunis inlay this recessed area with small multi-colored stonework. |
J
| Jemez | A New Mexico Pueblo, in the Jemez mountains, known for pottery |
| Jet | -time trade item A form of fossilized coal that became popular for mourning jewelry after Queen Victoria's husband, Albert died in 1861. A long, and the black material used in inlay jewelry by Zuni. |
| Jocla, jackla, joclas, jacla, jacklas | A specific adornment form of Pueblo origin, made from ground and shaped heishi beads, the jacla (the Navajo spelling) is a short double loop of (usually) turquoise beads that were originally worn as earrings, but might also be fstened to the bottom center of a bead necklace, symbolically hanging outside of the solar plexus, and often worn during dancing. Jacklas are considered a "traditional" form, and date back to the era before European contact. The center of each jacla loop is often decorated with one or more contrasting tabular stones (representing corn kernels) made from white or orange shell or coral. The tips near the tops of the loops, where the jacla is tied onto the necklace, may be strung with contrasting beads of reddish coral or shell, or even with red glass trade beads. Occasionally, indian traders may have a strand of jaclas alone for sale; more often, these forms come attached to a necklace. |
| Jump Ring | A small wire ring, not soldered shut, used to link elements of jewelry. |
K
| Katsina, Kachina figures |
Katsinas are sacred beings of the Pueblo peoples, and their physical representation on earth comes from the men who dance in Pueblo ceremonies; each dancer wears a combination of mask, body paint, and costume that replicates an individual Katsina spirit, a holy force of nature that brings some benefit to humanity. These sacred intermediaries between the gods and the Pueblo peolples visit the pueblo villages at certain times of the year, bringing gifts-such as katsina dolls, representations of Katsinas carved from cottonwood that are painted and adorned- and performing dances for the benefit of all humanity. Each Katsina represents an aspect of earthly life, such as fertility, healing, the granting of justice, or life-giving rain
Of all the Pueblo peoples, Hopis and Zunis have the largest number of Katsinas, numbering in the hundreds. |
| Keresan | A form of religious folk art attributed mostly to the Hopi. The dolls are wooden images which represent the men who dance in costume, mask and paint as kachina spirits in Hopi villages from 21st December (winter solstice) through the third week in July. Kachinas represent supernaturals, the spirit or essence of animate and inanimate objects in nature who benefit the Hopi by bringing rain for a successful planting, fertility for animals and man, cures for illnesses, justice for lawbreakers, and humor for appropriate circumstances. Authentic dolls are carved from the root of the cottonwood tree only after it has broken away |
| Ketoh | see Bowguard . |
| Knife-wing figure | A supernatural being and culture hero found in various legends of the Pueblos. The Knife-wing has assocations with the zenith (heavens) and war, and it represents an important animal spirit to the Zuni. Bearing some physical resemblance to the Thunderbird figure, the Knife-wing merges human and bird form, possessing great flint-knife feather wings and tail, and is crowned with a terraced cap (see Tablita design). |
| Koshare | A male Pueblo ritual figure, the koshare is a member of a clown society. He is usually depicted with his body painted with horizontal black and white stripes, wearing a black kilt, and with painted black circles around his eyes. The koshare's role is an important one; acting as a sort of "holy buffoon," he provides humor and narrative, often accompanying katsina dancers. The colorful nature of this figure has led to encouragement-particularly from collectors- for its representation in some jewelry work, mainly inlay. See also Pueblo Jewelry. |
L
| Lapidary | Ones who work with stones. Cutting, shaping, polishing and creating jewelry from precious and semi-precious stones. |
| Lapis Lazuli | A silicate rock, rather than a mineral, lapis is valued for its deep, rich blue color, usually opaque or marked iwth small white mottling; lapis is a favored material of contemporary native jewelry active since the 1970's, who use it for cabochons and opaque beads, and even for inlay. Lapis contains elements of lazurite, pyrite, and sodalite in its composition, and it can be imitated with dyed ceramic, marble or paste. Natural lapis is found in Colorado and California, but is mainly imported from Chile, Afghanistan and Russia. |
| Lightning | A frequent motif for indigenous design, the jagged lines of lightning, powerful force of heavens and harbinger of rain, occur in native jewelry designs as repetitive patterns. Lightning is associated with supernatural spirits and animals, such as the eagle and the thunderbird. |
| Liquid Silver | A type of necklace or bracelet constructed of very thin, fine, small silver cylinders originally strung on catgut, now strung on fine wire |
| Lost Wax Casting |
A method of casting learned by contemporary native jewelry-makers; the process also includes hollow forming (the casting of a hollow piece of jewelry). The lost-wax process is very old (it was practiced in ancient Egypt), and is a well-established, mainstream European-American jewelry-casting process.
The lost-wax process begins by making a model of a jewelry piece in wax and attaching a wax stem, called a sprue, to the model. The sprue helps hold the model in place and provides a vent for gases and the melted wax to escape when the mold is heated, and acts as a passageway for the molten metal to enter the mold. The wax is then completely covered in clay or plaster (called "investment), dried and heated in a kiln; this melts the wax completely away (the burnout phase). While the mold is still warm, molten metal - silver or gold - is poured through the sprue into the mold; once in the mold, the metal takes on the shape vacated by teh "lost" wax. When cool, it is submerged in water to break the mold, so that the cast metal can be removed and further worked to finish |
| Luster | A stone's luster is its sparkle or sheen - the way it reflects light. The luster depends on the nature of the stone's surface reflectivity. |
M
| Maker's mark | see Hallmark |
| Man in the maze |
A popular design motif consisting of a man, seen in full front silhouette, standing at the start of a maze that is generally a circular, oval or pentagonal shape; the maze is seen from above. Sometimes, the man is shown in the center of the maze.
Originating from the creation stories of the Pima and Tohono O'odham that revolve around Elder Brother and symbolic journey to his mountain home while eluding enemies. Therefore, the maze is thought to represent his home, but popular interpretations have also called this home plan a "path of life," especially since the actual path around the figure is not a maze but an exact route without shortcuts, dead ends, or false turnings; so this "maze" is indicative of the path a person must follow to complete the life journey |
| Manta Pin | A decorated silver pin, embossed, stamed or set with stones, used to secure the garments of Pueblo women, who often refer to it as a "sew on". A manta pin is worn mainly at ceremonial and social occasions calling for traditional dress; it is usually sewn onto blouses or multiple pins are placed in a line down the sides of a Pueblo women's dress or skirt. Contemporary pieces are now made that pay tribute to the manta pin's shape and historical context. |
| Matrix M |
A contrasting material found in the parent (host)rock of a gem or mineral such as turquoise or opal. Matrix varies by color and pattern depending on the area where the stone is mined; and can appear as flecks, spots or a delicate line of tracery known as spiderweb.
Matrix can be a prized design element in a gemstone on a piece of jewelry; lapidarists consider its great variation in color, effect and texture to be factors in evaluating the quality of the stone. Matrix lines can vary in color, including black, brown, red and even a gold tone. American turquoise is valued for it's matrix patterns, and American collector's prefer turquoise with matrix over clear blue turquoise as found in Persian. Gem-grade, natural turquoise with fine, distinct, and uniform spiderwebbing is considered collectible and is highly sought after. |
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| Matte Finish | Jewelry which has a non-reflective metal surface is referred to as having a matte finish as opposed to jewelry that is highly polished. The surface will appear frosted, uniformly scratched or brushed and is created using various techniques including a chemical processes, sand blasting, tumble polishing or created by hand using abrasives. |
| Medicine bundle, pouch | Personally sacred objects to their owners (whether medicine men or not); the contents of a bundle, worn or carried on the body, provides power, strength, and protection by way of the properties of the items therein: shell, feathers, horn, sweetgrass, sage, and so on. Small medicine bundles can also be attached to a fetish figure, usually with a piece of sinew or twine. |
| Metallic | The quality used to describe a gem with a luster similar to metal. Hematite, pyrite, stibnite, silver topaz and Gibeon Meteorites are some gems which display a metallic luster. |
| Metalware | Utensils and household material made of metal, often created as a by-product of silversmithing for making pieces and dress ornaments. Most metalware items are made specifically for non-Indians. |
| Mimbres | Considered a subgroup of teh ancient Mogollon culture, the Mimbres were most active around A.D. 900 in a watershed area near the borders of south central Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico. They are best known for their distinctive black-on-white pottery, with characteristic abstract and geometrical patterns, and strongly delineated representations of animals, fish, insects and humans. Mimbres designs have been adoped into modern native jewelry design repertoires in honor of their ancestral nature. |
| Mohs Scale | The Mohs Scale of Hardness measures a substance's hardness or how resistant it is to being scratched. The scale ranges from 1 to 10. For example, a diamond (hardness = 10) will scratch garnet (hardness = 6.5-7.5), but not the other way around, so a diamond is harder than garnet. See hardness for scale of stones. |
| Mother of Pearl | or nacre is the iridescent substance that forms the lining of the shells of some fresh-water and some salt-water mollusks. Like the pearl, it is a secretion of the mantle, composed of alternate layers of calcium carbonate and conchiolin. Among the chief sources are the pearl oyster, found in warm and tropical seas, chiefly in Asia; freshwater pearl mussels, which live in many rivers of the United States, Europe, and Asia; and the abalone of California, Japan, and other Pacific regions |
| Mudhead | Clowns, also known as "koyemshi," that appear in Hopi and Zuni rituals. According to Zuni migration legend, 10 koyemshi were born of an incestuous union. The figures have misshapen heads with knobby bumps for ears and hair and are depicted as clay-red or mud-colored, wearing a black kilt and bandanna. They eat dirt and offer mocking pantomines (similar to the actions of Koshares) to disrupt the sacred tempo of ceremonials, Katsina dances and priestly activities. Colorful characters and folk figure seen in both fine art and tourist jewelry pieces. |
N
| Naja | The centerpiece of a squashblossom necklace; crescent-shaped pendant, has Moorish derivation, and borrowed from Spanish colonial ornamental use on horse bridle headstalls and men's silver decorations on trousers. |
| Native-style |
A term widely used by scholarly and popular literature, including sales and mail-order catalogues, to denote that an object has been created to resemble, or exactly reproduce, an destabilished Native American art or craft convention, but that the object's creator is not Native American (or not part of the particular native tradition that orginated the style).
Consumers have often been misled by the application of "indian-style" and "native-style," and most native artists believe that non-native-made goods are hurtful to the integrity of the authentic items, particularly in the case of Indian jewelry |
| Navajo jewelry |
Jewelry made by members of the Navajo Nation (an older spelling is Navaho), who refer to themselves as Dineh; representative Navajo styles include sandcast pieces (see casting), turquoise on silver, die stamping on silver (and gold), naja pendants, squash blossom beads and necklaces, hollow silver beads and concha belts.
The Navajo Nation is the largest producer of Native American silversmiths and fine art jewelers in North America. The Navajo reservation is more than 15 million acres in the adjoining regions of northeast Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southern Utah. They are also among the largest of the native groups in terms of population |
| Needlepoint | A Zuni lapidary style in which small narrow elongated stones, pointed at either end, are set into delicate bezels and grouped in multiple rows to make circular or rectangular clustered patterns of stonework. Turquoise and coral are the most common stones used for this technique, and fine needlepoint must have well-matched stones and perfectly aligned settings. Starting sometime in the 1930's, though not old, it is considered a more "traditional" kind of jewelry. |
| Nickel Silver | A white metal mixture of copper, zinc, and nickel which contains no silver. See Alloys. |
| Nugget style | A style of turquoise or other mineral material that is left in a natural, or free-form state of finish, without being cut into facets, cabochons or rounded and shaped beads. Nugget-style stones, polished and set in metal, became popular in the late 1960's and early 1970's. One such style of roughly shaped nugget setting is known as "seafoam turquoise" with its knobby surface showing the original shape of the nugget |
O
| Old Pawn | See Pawn Jewelry. |
| Onyx | A variety of chalcedony quartz, often with parallel banding. When chalcedony is variegated it is called agate. Black onyx may be opaque or translucent and although it does occur naturally in black, it is usually dyed to darken its color. It has a hardness of between 6.5- 7 on the Mohs scale. Natural black onyx is a brittle stone requiring care during cutting or carving. |
| Opal | Most opal is 50-65 million years old, dating back to the time of dinosaurs in the Cretaceous period. Opal formed as silica from decomposing rocks that mixed with ground water and formed a silica gel that hardened in underground cavities and fissures. There are two distinct types of opal, common and precious. The way the silica particles form determines which type. In precious opal, silica particles are packed in regular rows and layers. Moving the stone causes light to diffract, or split, as it grazes the opal surface. This light diffusion shows iridescent flashes of green, blue, aqua and sometimes yellowish or red colors which are referred to as "fire". Opal is found in a wide range of colors including: green, blue, aqua, and pink. |
| Opaque | In gemstone use, an opaque gem is one that does not allow light to pass through it, is not transparent or translucent. Examples: lapis , turquoise, and malachite |
| Overlay | A jewelry technique originated by Hopi artisans in the late 1930's and the 1940's, and now widely used by native jewelers of all backgrounds. In the overlay process, a design is cut, using a jeweler's saw, on a flat piece of metal (usually sterling silver), and tehn sweat-soldered onto another piece of the same size through a special heating process. The recessed areas are then oxidized or blackened while the raised, upper surface is highly polished for contrast. Turquoise, coral or other stones can be set in the darkened hollows or onto the polished surfaces. |
| Owl | A nocturnal bird that appears in various legends and creation stories, usually as a link, or messenger between the physical and supernatural worlds. The owl is an ambiguous creature (representing both day and night) and can be associated with dark powers, including witchcraft and sorcery. Not a traditional motif, but more one that has come into general use because of their popularity with non-Indians |
| Oxidation |
A natural or artificial process whereby silver is darkened or blackened. Sterling silver contains a substantial amount of copper, which promotes surface oxidation through time and exposure to the elements. Moisture from wear can also cause oxidation.
Artificially induced oxidation, often through the use of liver of sulfur or potassium sulfide, is a design element used by native jewelers to produce contrasdt or depth on a piece (specifically it is almost always used in the overlay technique). Nineteenth-century native silversmith used mutton blood as a substitute blackening agent. Deliberately blackened jewelry should not have its oxide finish removed through cleaning. |
P
| Paste | An inexpensive substitution for jewelry stonework generally made from synthetic, or inorganic substances. |
| Patina |
The quality of luster on the surface of a piece of metal or semiprecious stone jewelry. Patina results from
natural oxidation, age, wear, or the application of chemicals and/or acids. Brass, copper and bronze often aquire a green patina, silver turns gray or black and gold aquires a reddish hue. (Patina preservation is the reason to avoid all but very superficial cleaning of old objects.) Jewelers often apply a combination of various chemicals and/or acids to metals to enhance the design. |
| Peridot | Jewelry that was used as cash, and 'pawned' to a trader for other goods; often, when the owner could, he would buy or trade to retrieve it. Old Pawn refers to pawn jewelry from the early 20s to the late 30s. Dead Pawn refers to jewelry not collected after the agreed date, often several years |
| Petit-point | A Zuni-originated technique in which small stones are cut to be uniformly egg-shaped, oval, or round and placed in a variety of settings. Petitpoint produces a different effect than Needlepoint, in which the small stones are narrow and pointed (elongated) on both ends. Petitpoint-shaped stones can be used for both cluster work and row work. This Zuni technique was devised, like needlepoint, tomake effectgive use of small stones left over in the lapidary process. See Zuni Jewelry |
| Petroglyphs, pictographs | Inscriptions, paintings or carvings on rock. Known as "rock art," these rock images are some of the most important sources for native design inspiration. Imagery taken from rock art has been isolated and translated into motifs for use in Native American decorative arts, including jewelry; one popular figure is that of Kokopelli. |
| Peyote Bird | A mythic bird known variously as a snake bird or water turkey. Native artists from the Plains, Oklahoma and the Southwest use the peyote bird as a design motif, but the bird is most commonly associated with the rituals of peyote use in the Native American Church. The peyote bird's slightly elongated outline shape lend itself to such jewelry as pendants, dangle earrings, overlay silverwork and chip inlay. Picuris P One of the Eight Northern Pueblos of New Mexico, known for micaceous pottery |
| Picuris | One of the Eight Northern Pueblos of New Mexico, known for micaceous pottery |
| Pipestone | A soft stone, also known as catlinite, that is usually brown in color (sometimes pink or reddish-hued from iron content), and that can be easily shaped for jewelry-making purposes. Often used for fetish carvings. It has a long history of beind used to make religious and ceremonial objects, including pipes. |
| Plastic | see Synthetics |
| Plastic block | see Imitation Turquoise. |
| Polishing | see Buffing. |
| Porous | Porous stones have tiny holes in them. These holes allow water, oils, and other substances to penetratethe stone, frequently changing their appearance over time. Many stones are porous, including low-grade turquoise which needs to be treated to be usable. Porous turquoise will make the stones change color over time with exposure to oils or lotions. |
| Pow wow |
A Native American social gathering, similar to a fair, that usually includes competitive dancing and drumming.
Meant to celebrate native heritage, promote inter-tribal mingling, and display new and traditional conventions of non-ceremonial dancing. |
| Provenance | in New Mexico; pueblos are communities, and life revolves around the plaza, where The documented history of an object, including its known origins and important owrners. Provenance serves as a guarantee of authenticity - a major conern in Indian arts. Collectors of older Indian jewelry favor acquisitions that have a known provenance, and this can increase the price of a piece accordingly |
| Pueblo | ('town dwelling') An alternate description for reservation, or exclusive domicile for Native Americans, used mostly as a descriptive ceremonial dances are often held; pueblos also have their own government and law enforcement agencies |
| Pueblo Jewelry |
Jewelry created by the Pueblo peoples of the U.S. Southwest, who live in pueblos (villages) in north central New Mexico (mostly along the upper Rio Grande River and also west of Albuquerque) and northeastern Arizona. Pueblos possess created jewelry-making traditions that predate the arrival of Earopeans to North America; these ornamental traditions, centered around the use of Turquoise, have survived and are augmented by skill in working silver and gold for both traditional and fine-art style jewelry pieces.
Two specific western groups, the Hopi and Zuni, are particularly noted for their prolific stone and metal jewelry jewelry creation. Santo Domingo Pueblo, has been noted for its turquoise beadmaking in various forms. Other Pueblo groups include Acoma, Laguna, Cochiti, Isleta and San Juan. |
| Punch |
A steel or iron tool for making perforated or imprinted decorative designs on metal jewelry. Important for metalworking purposes, a smith uses a hammer to strike the punch against the metal surface, thyus imprinting or incising the metal.
Punches are made in a variety of shapes and thickness for a wide range of decorative tasks, including chasing, cutting, filing, repoussage, and sawing. Native smiths originally made punches out of scrap pieces of metal, such as old track rail. Modern punches are made from tooled steel and are highly polished instruments for patterning and other forms of incision work. |
Q
| ................ | |
R
| Rabbit, hare |
The rabbit is a trickster figure and culture hero to some native peoples, such as the Ojibway, Ute and certain Northwest Coast tribes. In addition, rabbits (and hares) are a source of food and pelts.
Many Southwestern native jewelers use rabbit images from Mimbres and Pueblo pottery designs; the animals are usually in full side profile and are often shown running |
| Rain symbols | Representing renewal and life, rain is a significant natural phenomenon to virtually all indigenous cultures, and is especially precious to those who live in arid lands, such as the Southwestern part of the U.S. Rain symbols can appear as geometric cross-hatches, to animals closely associated with rain, to specific supernatural beings and "rain birds." Rain symbols and cloud symbols are related and often interchangeable. In Pueblo belief, doves and swallows are associated with rain, along with hummingbirds (which also have a connection to rainbows). Some jewelry motifs derive directly from basket, pottery, and weaving designs with rain symbols. Tourist-era improvisations, still in wide use, show rain in various forms as clouds with stepped lines, as a straight line with vertical lines descending, and as a crescent arc terminating in a small circle, signifying clouds and raindrops. See also Lightning, Rainbow Figure |
| Rainbow figure |
Known variously as a male or female supernatural figure, and identified in some anthropological and sociological literature as a deity, the Rainbow figure is a popular Zuni guardian spirit; the image is used as a design motif for both the Zuni and Navajo.
The Rainbow figure is depicted with a curved back, bent to resemble a rainbow's shape, and wearing a terraced cloud cap (see Tablita design). The earliest of these figures, like the Knife-Wing, and the Thunderbird designs, developed from the 1920s to the 1940s, common motifs by the 1950s. |
| Raindrops | Small rounded balls of melted silver soldered onto a piece of jewelry for decorative effect. Some native smiths also refer to them as "drops" or "shorts.". Another temr, used mainly by no-Indian collectors and dealers, is "teardrops." They appeared on Navajo and Pueblo silver jewelry as a regular design element from teh 1920s through the 1940s. Raindrops are still made and used on jewelry today. |
| Ranger set | Native-designed buckle sets, with matching decorated loops (known as "keepers") and belt tip. Ranger sets have been made since the early to mid-twentieth century, springing from the growth of WEstern-style clothing for leisure and fancy wear. These pieces are ornamented in every jewelry technique, from overlay to mosaic to channel inlay. Many men (and women) choose ranger sets and bolas with complementary silver and stone work. |
| Repousse | Repoussé: A method of embossing a metal sheet by punching and hammering a design from the back, then polishing it up in front with a chasing hammer, producing a three-dimensional bas-relief surface. |
| Resinous | A type of luster exhibited on gemstones like amber. |
| Reticulation |
of a torch to bring the metal to a high temperature just below its actual melting point. The jeweler carefully moves the torch flame around the metal surface, "pulling" the almost flowing metal into various ridges.
This takes extreme concentration and patience, allowing the torch Used in the jewelry making process to create a textured surface with ridges, ripples and valleys. The process requires deft use to remain directed in one area for a split second too long will cause the metal to melt and either form a hole or a "ball" of molten metal instead of realizing the desired effect. The pattern of valleys and ridges of a reticulated piece is unpredictable and trying to duplicate a pattern is impossible although a skillful craftsperson will be able to create something similar for perhaps an earring set. |
| Revival style | In Native American jewelry, the deliberate reproduction and imitation of older designs, motifs, and forms to create a modern jewelry piece that looks like (or is reminiscent of) much older pieces. Contemporary Native jewelers and smiths have been drawn to the older styles, or effect and recreate them as a form of tribute to their artistic heritage. These revivals provide the opportunity of recapturing the spirit or look or earlier jewelry pieces, and satisfies consumer deman for older styles that may be scarce in the antique Indian arts market. Unfortunately, sometimes such items have been misrepresente as originals. Many artists who work in this style are articulate about their intentions, and sign their pieces to maintain the integrity of their reputation and art, stressing the renewed and revitalizing aspect of their work. |
| Rock art | See petroglyphs, pictographs. |
S
| Sacred Buffalo Turquoise | Discovered in the Dry Creek Mine on the Shoshone Indian Reservation near Battle Mountain, Nevada, in 1993, Sacred Buffalo turquoise is rare and fairly new to the jewelry scene. Sometimes called white turquoise, the stone is not white at all and varies in color, due to a lack of heavy metals in its composition. The vein ranges from whitish grey to black. Not to be confused with "white buffalo," which is actually the white stone howlite and not turquoise at all, the only known streak of Sacred Buffalo turquoise in the entire world is that located in the Dry Creek Mine, where it is mined by the Shoshone peoples and sent to Navajo indians in Arizona and New Mexico to be made into jewelry. |
| Santo Domingo jewelry | Jewelry created by the people of the Santo Domingo Pueblo, which is located in the middle Rio Grande region of New Mexico, (between Santa Fe and Albuquerque). The Pueblo people of Santo Domingo are noted as traders and jewelry-makers; best known for their skill at grinding, drilling, and stringing beads of shell and turquoise (Heishe). See also Heishe, Pueblo Jewelry. |
| Semiprecious stones | While no longer a valid term to professional lapidarists, the gemstones mainly used to Native Americans, such as turquoise and malachite, are often called semiprecious in older literature (and the term is still used in some contemporary writings). Only genuine gemstones, not synthetics or organic materials such as coral and ivory, were given this designation. |
| Setting | A setting is a method of securing a stone (or other ornament) in a piece of jewelry (or other object). There are many different types of settings. Some settings are closed (there is metal behind the stone), while others are open (there is no metal behind the stone), letting light shine through the stone. |
| Shadow Box | A silver-and-stone jewelry style originated by Navajo artisans, in which pieces have deep recesses that are blackened through artificial oxidation, with stones set into these areas; the remaining surface portions are usually left plain and are highly polished. Developed by the Navajo sometime in the 1920s or 1930s, and became more common in the late 1960s and early 1970s. |
| Shell Beads | Shells and ieces of shells shaped and drilled for stringing as beads. The raw materials for such beads, including conch, hardshell clam, abalone, and olivella, were frequently transported great distances and used as trade items. Despite the presence of clever imitations, there is still a great demand for native-made jewelry using genuine shell beads such as spiney oyster shell among others. See Heishi. |
| Spiney Oyster | Spiney Oyster, Spondylus Brodnip Princess is found in the Sea of Cortez, Baja California, Mexico. It appears in lower Baja California Sur Mexico. It was discovered in 1976 and began to be exported for jewelry making use in the Southwest by Indian Crafts people. The shell comes in three colors red, orange, and purple sometimes yellow and white. Spondylus Calcifer commonly called Giant Pacific Rock Oyster is a purple that is found in water from 0-60 ft. After 60ft of water the white Spondylus appears and goes down to 90ft of water. After 90ft of water the reds and the oranges appear. |
| Squash Blossom |
Silver bead necklaces with stylized open silver petals seemingly sprouting from the stones and leading down to the traditional naja (“crescent” in Navajo) pendant.
A necklace design, composed of silver beads, incorporating 'squashblossoms' (a design based on the form of a pomegranate); includes a large center pendant called a naja. see Naja |
| Stablizing |
The chemical treatment of stones, such as turquoise, to enhance their natural appearance. Over 95% (up to 99%) of all turquoise must be stabilized to be usable, either to enhance the color, strengthen the matrix and/or turquoise so it doesn't crumble. Only the top 1-3% of all turquoise mined can be used in jewelry straight out of the ground, the rest must be treated in some way to be usable. This artificial enhancement often involves the application of plastic, or other resin-like substances, onto the natural stone as a means of heightening the stone's color, increasing the stone's durability or giving the stone a better shine. Good business practice and ethics (including the regulations of the Indian Arts and Crafts Association [IACA]) require that the artist using this treatment on stones, or dealers selling the piece, represent the material as having been treated.
The majority of Indian jewelry on the market today contains stabilized turquoise; though with the advances in the stabilization process, it can be difficult to tell if a stone is treated. Virtually any piece in a catalog or department store is treated. The consumer is often at the mercy of the seller, and that individual's honesty (and knowledge) in portraying the materials used for a piece of jewelry. Because good quality, natural turquoise is so rare, more difficult to find and more expensive, stabilized pieces have become a fact of life for the industry and have their place. There are grades of stabilized turquoise, and some look very good. It's not wrong to wear, or buy, stabilized turquoise, it just should not be marketed, or prices as natural turquoise. Stabilized turquoise can sometimes have a plastic smell to it, whereas natural turquoise has an earthy, appealing smell. |
| Stamping or Stampwork | A term used in silversmithing to describe a process whereby a design is 'stamped' onto a piece of silver; in this process, the tool is stationary, unlike chasing, where the tool moves through the process |
| Sterling Silver | The American standard for silver jewelry. Sterling is silver with a fineness of 925 parts per thousand or 92.5% silver and 75 parts per thousand or 7.5% copper. Copper is added to the alloy to increase the silver's hardness. Usually stamped with .925 stamp or the word STERLING. That is always your assurance of the highest quality of materials. There are sheets, textured sheets, tubes, wire, chain, beads and many more. < /td> |
| SWAIA (Southwestern Association for Indian Arts) | A not-for-profit membership organization that supports and encourages contemporary and traditional native arts. Best known for its annual Indian Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The association originated in 1922, when non-Indian residents of Santa Fe established themselves as the New Mexico Association on Indian Affairs (NMAIA), renamed SWAIA in 1954. Since the 1970's, SWAIA has developed a number of eductional, promotional and fellowship programs that highlight concerns about the preservation of quality native artwork. The organization endorses issues related to authenticity and creativity in jewelry-making and provides artist profiles and related information in their publications. www.swaia.org |
| Synthetic Stone | Synthetic stones are made in laboratories; these stones generally lack imperfections. It is very difficult to distinguish a synthetic stone from a natural stone. Today, they are making synthetic turquoise with matrix and spiderwebbing in it to make it indescernible from natural unless examined by a gemologist. |
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| Tab turquoise | Pieces of turquoise cut into an elongated, slightly flattened tabular form. The tab shape is one of the oldest forms known to beadmaking because early native miners could extract the stones for tabs fairly easily as natural mineral chunks from thin seams or veins close to the surface. Tab turquoise beads (also referred to as "corn grains") remain a popular form for earrings and necklaces; both tab and disk beads are often strung together, and well-shaped, good quality turquoise pieces of jewelry shaped as tabs are considered highly desirable by both natives and non-Indians alike. |
| Tablita design | A motif used by Native American jewelry usuing an outline forms of the ceremonial headdresses worn by Pueblo women. The choice of this design for the shape of a jewelry piece pays tribute to the importance of dance in Pueblo material and spiritual culture. The tablita outline in its simplest form is roughtly triangular in shape with terraced lines, or steps from teh wide base to the top (the steps are reminiscent of the kiva-step motif). The actual headdress is a thin upright wooden plaque (frequently made form cottonwood) that may be painted in bright colors with various pictographs or symbols depicting rain, water, clouds, plants, and creatures representing fertility. |
| Tarnish | Tarnish is the term applied to metal that has discolored due to oxidation or corrosion. Sterling silver is very susceptible to tarnishing but can be cleaned easily with a soft cloth and cleaning products designed to clean metal. Never use toothpaste to clean jewelry as it is too abrasive and will result in fine scratches that dull the metal surface. |
| Thunderbird | A supernatural being usually depicted as a legendary bird of great size, capable of creating lightning and thunder. The origins are unclear, but its portrayal occurs througout native North America, on burial mounds and rock art. Most beliefs place the thunderbird as a protective spirit living in the high mountains, or on rocky slopes or remote cliffs. Most often, it is seen with outstretched wings. It may appear with its talons grasping arrows, and sometimes with abstract zig-zag "lightning bolts" that emerge from its eyes, wings or talons. |
| Tortoise Shell | A popular material for 19th century jewelry and Native American inlay jewelry and haircombs, tortoiseshell was banned and is no longer used for these items. There are very close plastic imitations of tortoiseshell. One technique to differentiate tortoise from its imitators is to touch the surface with a hot pinpoint. Tortoise will give off a smell like burning hair, while plastic will emit and acrid, chemical odor. |
| Tourist jewelry | Jewelry made from either genuine or imitation matierals and meant expressly for sale to non-native consumers. Also known as curio or souvenir jewelry. |
| Transitional period | See First Phase |
| Troy Weight | Gold and silver are measured in Troy weight, a system that includes pennyweights, ounces and pounds. The ounces and pounds do not equal the Avordupois or customary U.S. system that other common goods are measured in. Gold is also commonly measured in metric grams. A pennyweight (abbreviated dwt.) is equal to 1.5552 grams. 24 grains = 1 pennyweight = 1.5552 grams 20 pennyweight = 1 troy ounce = 31.1035 grams 12 ounces = 1 pound troy = 373.24 grams. |
| Tufa | A specific form of soft volcanic ash, or pumice, found in abundance around the Navajo reservation, and particularly in the Ganado, Arizona area. Tufa is lightweight; it can be easily extracted in chunks from teh ground and carved into molds for casting silver. The porous quality of the tufa mold can create a slightly different texture and sheen on a cast piece. See Casting. |
| Turquoise | A hydrous aluminum phosphate colored by copper salts found in arid regions throughout the world and used in jewelry by the natives who live there including Mongolian, Chinese, Native Australian, Persian, and Southwestern Native American. Different colors of turquoise, varying from sky blue to nearly green occur in untreated turquoise. prized as a gemstone in its polished blue. It is considered a source of good fortune and beauty. If you see brown or grey streaks in turquoise, they are caused by the matrix, or mother stone, from which the turquoise is mined. Interesting matrix patterns are considered to add beauty to the stone. Only Persian turquoise is usually without apparent matrix. Modern turquoise "stones" that appear very shiny and absolutely flawless are actually manufactured: Pulverized turquoise is reconstituted with a plastic binding medium then cut & shaped as though it were natural stone. This material is generally avoided by collectors. Different colors of turquoise--varying from sky blue to nearly green occur in untreated turquoise, since it is quite porous. Touching the stone leaves oils on it which alters the color of the turquoise over many years. Collectors tend to value these color nuances as the patina of time. |
| Turquoise, Reconstituted | Reconstituted turquoise is manmade from pulverized pieces of turquoise that are stabilized and compressed with plastic resins to which dye is added and should be sold as "simulated" or "imitation" turquoise. However, this form is often used in much of the mass produced inlay jewelry. Known as "block", the materials is then cut into beads, cabochons, and slabs. Skystone does not have anything to do with reconstitued turquoise. In some cases, the reconstituted stone is actually made from "real" turquoise, amber, lapis or similar stone, but often the reconstituted stones are nothing more than low grade rocks, like howlite, that have been dyed and compressed to look like the real gemstone. This form is often used in much of the mass produced inlay jewelry. |
| Turtle | A deeply significant figure often representing Mother Earth, the turtle is depicted as a motif in the decorative work of many native peoples. The use of the turtle on jewelry is meaningful according to its makers heritage. |
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| Variscite | A mineral closely resembling turquoise that possesses a rich green color, not unlike aged turquoise. A relatively rare phosphate mineral which is sometimes confused with chrysocolla or the greener forms of turquoise. Considered a cousin to turquoise due to the close chemical composition. Colors are light bluish green, medium and dark greens. It often contains patches of white, gray or brown matrix, has a waxy luster and takes a fine polish. Mohs scale of hardness 3.5 - 5. |
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| Water Serpent | A mythic being that appears on ancient artifacts, from those of the Mound Builders of the Midwest to remains of the Hohokam and Anasazi of the Southwestern regions. In Tewa language, the serpant's name is Avanyu; this figure may be depicted with lightning coming from its mouth and cloud symbols above its back. The Pueblo water serpent guards springs and other water resources. Like the snake, the water serpent's sinous form lends itself to jewelry forms as an elongated, wavy pattern. |
| Waxy | This is a term used to describe the luster of gem. Some gems that exhibit a waxy luster are: carnelian, chalcedony, turquoise. |
| Wrought | Literally, "done by hand"; in metalsmithing, a term indicating that only hand tools were used in creating a piece of jewelry. Hand-wrought metal jewelry can be beaten, hammered or twisted. Cat pieces are an exception to this list of fabrication techniques, although they have some aspects of being wrought, especially is elements such as hand-drawn wire, or hammered shaping, are used to make the final form. |
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| Yei | In Navajo belief, deities, or Holy People, who emerged from the lower worlds before humans were created, and served as mentors to humans after their creation. The Yei are represented at major religious events, particularly in the nine-day Yeibichai ceremonial ceremonial dance, through figures wearing sacred buckskin Yeibichai masks. Their use as motifs may be derived from the similar treatment of katsina figures. When yei are depicted, they are amde to resemble dancing figures wearing the mask and carrying ceremonial objects, usch as arrows and gourds, and their bodies may be stretched arc-like to approximate sandpainting design shapes. When a Yei is depicted, it is often in a group, front-facing. When a Yeibichai is depicted (a human taking on the form of a Yei for ceremonial purposes), they are seen from the side, usually in a group in a line. |
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| Zat | A term used to refer to the life in a stone. If the energy is apparant, and the stone seems deep and alive it tends to glow: this is when a stone has "zat!" |
| Zuni | Zuni: A Native American tribe in western New Mexico, known for fetish carvings, delicate inlaid jewelry and multiple stone settings, often called 'petit point' or 'needlepoint'. |
| Zuni Jewelry | Jewelry created by members of the Zuni pueblo, a Native American tribe in western New Mexico, or descendents of Zuni residents. Zuni jewelry styles feature skilled lapidary work, including including carved stone and carved fetish pieces, cluster work, channel and mosaic inlay, needlepoint, petitpoint, and row work. |
