SOUTHWEST SILVER JEWELRY The First Century

SOUTHWEST SILVER JEWELRY The First Century

by Paula Baxter

From the Jacket:

This beautiful book examines the first century of Navajo and Pueblo metal jewelry-making in the American Southwest. Beginning in the late 1860s, the region's native peoples learned metalworking and became accomplished silversmiths. Their work was united with a long-standing native traditon of beads and ornaments made from turquoise and other natural materials. The cross-cultural appeal of this jewelry continued into the mid-1900s, despite competition from tourist jewelry and mass-produced imitations. By the 1950s and 1960s, masters such as innovators Kenneth Begay and Charles Loloma created a legacy of fine art jewelry that is prized today. This development is discussed in the context of social changes and adaptations over the century.

Paula A. Baxter is the Curator of the New York Public Library’s Art & Architecture Collection, located in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Previously she worked at the library of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and at several art colleges. Baxter holds a B.A. and M.A. in Art History from State University of New York at Binghamton, and an M.S. in Library Service from Columbia University. She is the author of the Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry (2000) and has published numerous encyclopedia and magazine articles on design history and Native American jewelry. Baxter also writes about and lectures on art research and collecting. She is a dedicated collector of old and new Native American jewelry, which she wears on a daily basis.