Coveted and Hard to Come By: The Native American Hair Piece

Native American's are known for their daily adornments, most, if not all, are made by fellow tribe members and given as gifts during certain ceremonies or celebrations. During celebratory activities adornments are ramped up a few levels and they wear their best and most treasured pieces, often stacking them one on the other. Many pieces have cultural significance and are sometimes directly related to the ceremony taking place, like this Holly Bracelet.

Everyday adornments are kept fairly simple with the hair piece being an ever present decoration. These pieces are functional art and are often passed down from generation to generation.

The Navajo hair piece pictured above is from the 1930s or previous, beautifully crafted, simple in design and traditionally constructed from a single piece os sterling.

This Rain Cloud design is also very old, and it's design speaks to Native American culture, their connection to the Earth and the importance of the Gods' willingness to provide them with much needed moisture. Again, this piece is artfully cut from a single sterling sheet.

This elongated Navajo piece is from the 1940s and incorporates an exaggerated twist in the pick elements and beautifully applied traditional stamping, with the featured stamps being done with a chisel. The tines are seperate from the headpiece and are beautifully soldered into place.

This very old Navajo piece is also elongated and has considerable age indications. The odd shaped stone is beautifully set and the hand stamping varies dramatically. The tines are seperate on this one as well, and in keeping with the primitive, early nature they're not as cleanly attached as the previous piece as the proper tools were not available at the time of it's construction

An important technique used in older Native American jewelry construction is “eyeballing” the stamp placement, the initial cut of the sterling with which the piece is to be made and stone positioning. This is one of my favorite attributes of handling Vintage and Old Pawn pieces and can easily be compared to musical improvisation.

Having these pieces in our collection is a real feather in our cap as they seldom leave the family of origin, and when they do, they more than likely remain within the tribe, as their personal nature is highly regarded. Most of these pieces were made specifically for a loved one or relative while considering their personal style or positioning within the tribal hierarchy.

JW Edgar--The Turquoise King of the Southwest

We've had an opportunity to acquire some superior pieces from the J.W. Edgar estate here in Albuquerque. Edgar was referred to as “The Turquoise King of the Southwest” during his 100 years, and on his passing his family has slowly started to offer pieces from his private collection. At one time Edgar owned close to 11 thousand acres of turquoise claims in Nevada, several of them producing much sought after, high grade stones. He sold much of what his mines produced to Indian Trading Posts throughout the Southwest with much of it ending up on the Native American pueblos of New Mexico.

Legendary silversmiths were regularly employed by Edgar to incorporate his best stones into special, one-of-a-kind pieces, many of which Edgar kept for himself, with many more being offered to important collectors, dignitaries and pop culture icons. Often pieces would return to Edgar in trade when someone wanted to either upgrade or have something designed especially for them. He was the “go-to guy” when you wanted the best available. RG Armstrong had this chip inlay watch bracelet custom made by one of Edgar's silversmiths, and later traded it for something else. With Armstrong's extensive stage, film and television presence, starting in the late 1930s and lasting beyond 2000, this is not only a highly desirable work of Native American art, but an important Hollywood collectable.

The acquisition of two, Old Navajo Pawn Bow Guards / Ketohs has been a real feather in our cap as far as adding to our museum worthy offerings. The stones and craftsmanship are completely "over the top" on both of them and we're very excited to add them to the Native Treasures collection. You can get a good look at them in the video, they're located in the Featured Pieces category on the website and include some extensive provenance in their descriptions.

As negotiations continue we're confident that additional pieces from this impressive estate will become available. We'll keep you posted!

It's all about the ART

In the '70s the market price of silver went through the roof, got close to $50 an ounce and slowly worked it's way back down to $12. The increase happened quickly but the decline took a while. The same thing is happening now. Silver is nearing $50 after being stable at around $17 for decades, dropping to $12 occasionally. This has seen jewelry prices increase as it's costing more to produce. The price is going to peak here pretty quickly, and with the economy currently being what it is, I foresee it tanking in the very near future.

Everybody is up in arms about how expensive silver has become, and I'm real sorry, but I don't get it. I understand that the contemporary trinket market depends heavily on the availability of silver, but trinkets are just that—quickly thrown together, mass produced identical pieces aimed at a quick sale to the general public. The art aspect is not a consideration, or if it is, it's minimal at best.

The only reason I even have knowledge of silver prices sky-rocketing is that my suppliers are beginning to consider it when offering me goods. They complain about it all the time, make sure they tell me all about it as an excuse to raise their prices.

I ignore it. Always have. I'm not dealing in pieces of metal, I procure art, and the cost of materials to produce it is completely immaterial. The end product, when created by artisans that “care” far transcends the cost of materials.

Bulk can be a consideration when acquiring, as heavier pieces are often desirable. Artisan's worth their salt use heavy gauge materials to insure their creations will be sturdy, and last a few lifetimes. Considerable weight can increase the value of a piece, but it has little to do with the market price of shiny metal.

I just acquired this exquisite Old Pawn Navajo Turquoise bracelet. It's one of, if not the, most beautifully crafted carinated-band-shank bracelet I've ever seen. It weighs 108 grams, or 3.6 Troy ounces. That puts it's silver scrap value at around $145. Anyone that would sell this masterpiece for scrap needs their head examined.

I wonder how much the paint cost when Davinci did the Mona Lisa? Not real sure that's a consideration when establishing it's value.

More FUN Stuff!!!!

While I'm in the field I find all manner of interesting collectables to add to our Other Interesting Finds category. The category is kind of like my own personal eBay; a place to offer a wide variety of items that are of interest to collectors from many genres.

I've acquired some really fun stuff recently, as well as some high-end collectable pieces.

My personal fave is this set of playing cards featuring works of the pin-up illustrator Vargas of Playboy Magazine fame. His full sized works are collected by many and this whimsical deck of cards is an unusual item from the 1950s--a period in which his notoriety was just starting to take off. 54 cards all featuring miniature versions of some of his early works, one joker with a Vargas Girl and another with a brief history of Vargas.

Native American Baskets are something I'm just starting my studies on, but this fantastic Papago Basket, made of yucca splints is so different than what I've seen, design-wise, that it really spoke to me. It's not an old basket, but it's construction is obviously done by an artisan that knows the art form well and the execution is flawless.

I'd never heard on the Damascene technique which is often used in jewelry making. When it was applied to this wonderful Hotel Desk Bell, on the back of a turtle shell, the results were pretty amazing. If I had a butler, I'd keep this for summoning him.

I simply can't resist rustic Southwestern decor, and when I spotted this immense buffalo skull I had no choice but to acquire it. I had no idea they were so big, and it caused a bit of a problem when trying to fit it into the trunk of my car.

I'm threatening to start a Hairpiece category on the site, as I often find amazing pieces; nice vintage items with tons of character, like this sterling, Navajo Raincloud. What a charming piece. Completely handcrafted, thick and sturdy and very traditionally designed.

I stay real focused when I'm in the field and when something "special" catches my eye, I'm such a "fool for cool" I can't help but grab it up. The Other Interesting Finds category was in the works from day one of website development and I expect it to keep growing.