Navajo Silver Tobacco Canteen with Stopper [SOLD]

According to John Adair’s classic book Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths (see reference link below), the origin of tobacco canteens, like other Navajo pieces, was Mexican. Mexican tobacco containers were made of rawhide and had a round shape with a wooden stopper. Mexican plateros also made copper and silver canteens, but their shapes were different. Though it is not certain exactly where the inspiration for silver canteens the Navajo made came from, it is known they were making them by 1880. Washington Matthews, an Army officer at Fort Wingate, described silver canteens being made by the local smiths.   

Adair also mentions that tobacco canteens are not very common. His reasoning behind this is that canteens are difficult to make and require more technical skill than other silver objects.

This stamped canteen was made by a skillful and creative silversmith. Two sides are soldered together to form a round container. The container is stamped with a series of crescents and circles. A tube was then soldered to the top of the round part. A handmade silver chain attaches a top to the tube.

The overall stamping and construction of this canteen confirms Adair’s belief that it requires a skilled silversmith to create such a piece.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Navajo Silver Tobacco Canteen with Stopper is from the collection of a gentleman from Colorado

Reference: Adair, John. Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths, University of Oklahoma Press, 1946