Native American Genuine Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Sterling Silver Belt Buckle *Signed* 1634-BB
Native American Genuine Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Sterling Silver Belt Buckle
Full of character, each hand cut baby blue Sleeping Beauty Turquoise cab was hand picked for color and size then arranged in an artistic cluster with Sterling Silver 'Navajo Tear Drops' on a hand cut Sterling Silver buckle. Traditional combination of the Navajo, "Silver and Turquoise". the buckle is 3-1/2" by 2-3/4" and the keeper on the back of the buckle is 1-1/2". Signed with Navajo artist's hallmark logo and stamped Sterling.
Individuality and authenticity are what make Indian jewelry valuable. Today's craftsmen cut and shape turquoise, shell and other stone by much the same methods as their ancestors used.
Southwest Indians today are perhaps best known for the beauty and variety of their jewelry. Not only is it prized by the collector, but also by the Indian him or herself. Jewelry is considered as wealth and any ceremonial occasion is used to display it. One of the most striking features of a dance is the quantity and variety of jewelry worn by the dancers.
There are many legends about Turquoise; The Pima consider it to bring good fortune and strength and that it helped overcome illness. The Zuni believe that blue turquoise was male and of the sky and green turquoise was female and of the earth. Pueblo Indians thought that its color was stolen from the sky. In Hopi legend the lizard who travels between the above and the below, excretes turquoise and that the stone can hold back floods. The Apache felt that turquoise on a gun or bow made it shoot straight. The Navajo consider it as good fortune to wear and believe it could appease the Wind Spirit.
Navajos comprise the largest tribe in the joined states, living on the largest reservation which is situated in northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona. A feeling of tribal strength is expressed in their own name, The Navajo Nation.
The Navajo were the first to produce jewelry that required the working of metal. Their love of metal working can be traced to the Spanish arrival in the Southwest. The silver bridles and horse trappings of the Conquistadors were admired and often stolen by the raiding Navajos. Later when the area became part of Mexico, Mexican silversmiths traded jewelry to wealthy Navajo for sheep. Jewelry became a symbol of wealth.
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