QUESTION: From my first visit to Arizona, I was taken by the beauty of the turquoise jewelry I found there. I’ve been back several times since and each time I discover new artisans. I especially like the style of the pieces created by members of the Zuni Tribe. I’d like to know more about this jewelry. How far back does this type of jewelry go? And how collectible is it today?
ANSWER: Much of the jewelry made by Southwestern Native Americans features one well-known semi-precious stone—turquoise.
Formed from hydrated copper aluminum phosphate, turquoise has been mined beginning 3,000 years ago in Persia, now Iran. The Persians treasured this sky-blue stone because they believed it to have healing properties and the ability to protect or warn the wearer of evil.
Because of its scarcity, today’s Iranians no longer mine turquoise, making antique Persian turquoise jewelry, often carved and inlaid with gold, extremely valuable. Such pieces, like necklaces and amulets, first came to Europe through Turkey, where the stone got its current name, “turquoise.”
Turquoise has been found all over the world. The light and fragile material can range from opaque to semi-translucent, with a waxy to dull luster, and its colors, which vary based on their iron and copper content, span from China blue to deep blue, and from blue-green to yellowy green. In Tibet, green is the most valued color of turquoise.
The stone often contains “inclusions” from the mother stone or “matrix” that held the turquoise as it formed, and this creates a “spiderweb” effect of brown, black, or ochre veins. Turquoise mined in the U.S. and Mexico tends to be greener and often has more inclusions than the vein-free sky-blue version from Persia.
Turquoise may be used for beads, cabochons, or carved pieces like cameos in necklaces, earrings, bracelets, brooches, and belt buckles. The most valuable turquoise available today comes from the Sleeping Beauty mines in Arizona; it’s dark blue and matrix-free.
In the late 19th century, Navajo artisans began to incorporate turquoise mined locally into their silver jewelry, but it was quickly mined out. A trader named Lorenzo Hubble began to import cut turquoise from Persia for the Native Americans to use. Then, in the early 20th century a new mine for cut turquoise opened in Nevada. Soon other American mines followed.
Various Native American tribes of the Southwestern U.S, including the Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni developed distinct styles of turquoise jewelry.
For example, the Navajo created what’s known as the “squash blossom” necklace style, which features a crescent-shaped pendant covered with turquoise beads. While this style may have come from the pomegranate motif that Spanish conquistadors brought to Mexico, but there’s little evidence Native Americans intended this design to represent that flower. This style was also adopted by the Zuni.
Zuni jewelry is known for its rows of “snake eyes,” which are small, rounded, high-domed cabochons, often made of turquoise or coral. The Zunis are also known for their “petit point” jewelry, a style made of tiny hand-cut rounded, oval, or square turquoise clustered in unique designs, that originated in the 1920s. The Pueblo tribes, and particularly the San Domingo tribe, used turquoise in mosaic jewelry, as well as in their disk- or tube-shaped heishe beads. The Zuni were the first to introduce turquoise animal-shaped fetish beads.
In the 1970s, Native American jewelry became popular, so that United States mines became overwhelmed by the demand. Once again, Native American traders had to start importing Persian turquoise.
Most turquoise jewelry on the market today, particularly if it’s affordable, is made of imitation turquoise, or low-grade turquoise treated to have a more attractive appearance. In fact, imitation turquoise goes back to the Victorians, who were the first to use glass to mimic the stone.
Most real American turquoise may turn green in response to light, oil, heat, and water, so it should be treated with care. Because it’s more porous than Persian turquoise, American turquoise, jewelry makers stabilize it by soaking it in resin or impregnating it with wax. This keeps it from crumbling and doesn’t affect the value.
To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site. And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Age of Photography" in the 2023 Fall Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.
