Necklace before 1920

This is a necklace made with silver and fiber by a Navajo (Diné) artist. The way the beads are strung together, each one distinct yet part of the whole, reminds me of how we build up a painting, mark by mark. There’s a real material presence here, a kind of quiet weight. The silver has this soft, almost powdery surface, not too shiny, which makes you want to reach out and touch it. The "squash blossom" elements, those little silver shapes dangling off the beads, create this sense of rhythm and movement, almost like musical notes on a page. And that pendant? It's like a little architectural structure, solid and grounded. The fiber element at the back is interesting too. It provides the structure to support the weight of the silver, and creates an interesting contrast in textures. It makes me think of the work of Tara Donovan, how she takes everyday objects and transforms them into something monumental and poetic. This necklace, in its own way, does the same, turning simple materials into something deeply resonant.