Diné Silver and Turquoise Square Lidded Pill Box [SOLD]

This charming sterling silver handmade pill box is square in shape.  The lid has handmade hinges and beautiful stamped designs on three side walls.  That should be enough, but the Navajo silversmith didn’t stop there. The lid is also adorned with a very small beautiful blue turquoise gemstone.

It is incredible that a silversmith could work with such precision and artistic style on such a miniature scale.  The silver box is a fine work of art from a time period that doesn’t exist anymore. These were made to sell to tourists coming to the West on the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe Railroad.  These silver boxes migrated all over the United States territory (New Mexico wasn’t as state until 1912). We think this box was certainly made before WWII. 

Note: when we say Diné, as opposed to Navaho or Navajo, we are referring to the people and not the government.  Since 1969, their government refers to itself as the Navajo Nation. 

Condition: this Diné Silver and Turquoise Square Lidded Pill Box is in very good condition

Provenance: from the large collection of silver objects of a gentleman from Washington, DC

Recommended Reading:

- Masterworks and Eccentricities: The Druckman Collection

- Navajo and Pueblo Jewelry and Metalwork 1880-1950 by Robert Bauver

Relative Links: Diné of the Navajo Nation, Southwest Indian Jewelry: Silver Objects