Treasures from Our West: Photograph of Navajo silversmith

Originally featured in Points West magazine in Summer 2015

Vincent Mercaldo photograph of a Navajo silversmith working

This undated photograph documents a Navajo man silversmithing in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He works the coals with tongs and has the hammer ready at the anvil. Note the bracelets at the left edge of the anvil’s base.

The making of jewelry by Native artists including the Navajo has a long history that includes traditional styles that, especially after the turn of the twentieth century, evolved to appeal to the burgeoning tourist trade.

Black and white photograph, no date. Navajo silversmith in Santa Fe, New Mexico. MS 71 Vincent Mercaldo Collection. P.71.1894

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