Past Exhibitions
Turquoise, Water, Sky: The Stone and Its Meaning
April 13, 2014 through May 30, 2016
BOX
Box, 1920s, Navajo. Silver, turquoise. Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology (56683/12). Photograph by Blair Clark.
'Fake' Turquoise
To the Native American it is the turquoise color that carries all the power and references to sky, water, birth, health. The stone does not necessarily have to be used for ritual or decoration. These pieces dating from 800-1200AD are wood painted to resemble turquoise. Given the scarcity of turquoise and the difficulty mining the fragile stone with primitive tools these three pieces are not fake in the eyes of a Native American.
Turquoise, Water, Sky: The Stone and Its Meaning highlights the Museum’s extensive collection of Southwestern turquoise jewelry and presents all aspects of the stone, from geology, mining and history, to questions of authenticity and value.
People in the Southwest have used turquoise for jewelry and ceremonial purposes and traded valuable stones both within and outside the region for over a thousand years. Turquoise, Water, Sky presents hundreds of necklaces, bracelets, belts, rings, earrings, silver boxes and other objects illustrating how the stone was used and its deep significance to the people of the region. This comprehensive consideration of the stone runs through May 2, 2016.
View the online version of the exhibition at http://turquoise.indianartsandculture.org
Native, Spanish, and Moorish Influences
The squash blossom necklace is an iconic symbol of the Southwest, but the crescent and flowers began as Moorish symbols that were brought to the region by Spanish explorers and settlers. Navajo jewelers adopted the crescent, which they called a naja , and flowers (now squash blossoms instead of pomegranate flowers) and used them on necklaces. This necklace (Cat # 56966/12, 15” by 10.5”) is Navajo in origin. One ketoh, or bow guard, is Navajo (Cat # 10687/12), while the other was made by Santo Domino Pueblo artist Luther Aguilar in 1952 (Cat # 36139/12). Both are about four inches long and made of silver, turquoise, and leather. The rings are Navajo (Cat # 36078/12, made by Tom Morris, and 10514/12) and made of turquoise and silver.
