Necklace 1961

Curator: This is a Navajo necklace crafted around 1961, currently held in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The necklace is made of silver. Editor: Wow, it has this almost lunar quality, all shimmering silver and repeating spherical shapes. It's simple but feels incredibly powerful. Almost otherworldly, really. Curator: The squash blossom necklace, as it's known, is an iconic piece of Navajo jewelry. It developed through cultural exchange during the 19th and 20th centuries, combining indigenous designs with Spanish colonial motifs like the naja—that crescent pendant at the bottom. Editor: So, that beautiful crescent isn't originally Navajo? It’s interesting to imagine the fusion of cultures, almost like hearing different melodies blending to form a unique song. How did it all come together? Curator: These necklaces evolved over time, initially as adornments for equestrian gear, and later becoming significant symbols of status and identity within Navajo and other Southwestern tribes. The blossoms themselves are said by some to derive from the pomegranate flower designs seen in Spanish and Mexican silverwork. Editor: Ah, a pomegranate! The seed of abundance! And they sprout out so neatly on this piece, like tiny, stylized buds about to bloom, a metallic garden draped across the chest. They have this rigid stillness of industrial manufacturing, despite their resemblance to plant-life. Curator: And look at how these individual silver beads are stamped! This technique suggests a level of artistry combined with mass production during the mid-20th century, which allowed this style of jewelry to circulate more widely through tourism and trade. Editor: Mass production taking something profoundly precious like culture and turning it into decoration… It seems a common trope in modernity and globalization. Curator: True, and some people would say it’s not the most ideal outcome of cultural exchange; however, the continued adaptation and importance of the squash blossom necklace for Navajo people suggests it means so much more than cheap commodification. Editor: Looking at it now, there is that strength there—almost like the endurance of silver itself—not quite willing to simply be a trinket. Well, I'm grateful to have seen it in a new light today. Curator: Me too, always more to consider beyond aesthetics!