Diné Silver, Turquoise, and Jet Pair of Earrings [SOLD]

This pair of Diné of the Navajo Nation earrings has a silver teardrop form, inside of which is a free-swinging teardrop of turquoise and jet mosaic inlay. The silver teardrop was sculpted at the bottom. The earrings are fitted for pierced ears. Each earring is stamped Sterling and Jerry T. Nelson.

Award winning Diné artist Jerry T. Nelson is known for channel inlay jewelry. Interestingly, his designs sometimes are a combination of Diné, Hopi, and Zuni styles. He has been honored with awards at Gallup Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial.

Although artist Jerry T. Nelson is Diné, he was born in 1959 at Keams Canyon, Arizona, on the Hopi Reservation. That could explain his exposure to Hopi overlay silver work. He now lives in one of the towns named Canoncito, New Mexico. As is frequently observed, several communities have the same name. There are six known locations in New Mexico named Canoncito—in Mora, Bernalillo, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Santa Fe and Taos Counties. So, the exact location of Jerry Nelson is not exactly known.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Diné Silver, Turquoise, and Jet Pair of Earrings is from a private collection

Reference: American Indian Jewelry III: M-Z - 2,100 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf

Recommended Reading: Navajo and Pueblo Earrings 1850-1945 - Collected by Robert V. Gallegos by Robert Bauver

TAGS: Southwest Indian Jewelry, Diné - Navajo Nation, Earrings