A Folk Art Piece for the Holidays

Turkey Mountain Traders specializes in fine antique American Indian Art, but those who have known us for years know that we also love American folk art, and are always actively searching for great examples. Truly superior pieces are rare, which is why it is so exciting when something outstanding comes along--something like this wonderful crèche.

It was made in Illinois in the late 1940s or 1950s, and is carved and painted wood with two small electrical fixtures (the wiring has been recently redone, for safety reasons.) There are all the expected things--the baby, the mother, the Wise Men, the animals, and the Star of Bethlehem at the top. And then, there is a surprise--on the roof, there is a skunk, because the artist figured that there had to be a skunk present in the manger somewhere.

At 23 1/2" wide and 14" high, it is large enough to show great detail but small enough to fit easily into any room setting.

Folk art is always a representation of the artist's culture, but the best folk art also gives a window into the soul of the maker. The carver who made this crèche may not have been a well-educated man, but he was clearly someone with a deep reverence and love for the story behind the scene. This was very possibly made as a gift for a family member, something to be treasured for years to come during the holiday season.

We recently found this wonderful object in the Midwest, and are proud to offer it for sale. For more details, visit the Folk Art section of our website at www.TurkeyMountainTraders.com.

The Landers conundrum

One question we get a lot in the shop and at shows is, "What is the best turquoise?" A fair question, though kind of difficult to answer, because different people like different things in their turquoise. From a gemological standpoint, the best turquoise is the hardest turquoise, which in America would probably be clear blue Sleeping Beauty. In the Old World, the most prized turquoise was that which had the clearest blue with the least matrix, and the Persian turquoise with the deep black matrix so familiar to collectors of Navajo pieces from the 1920s was the inferior junk that they cut and shipped off to America.

Since 1975, however, the king of the turquoise mountain in terms of price has been Landers. Discovered in 1973 in Lander County, Nevada, this tiny "hat mine" (so called because it could be covered by a hat) produced something like 125 pounds of rough turquoise before it played out. 125 pounds of rough does not equate to 125 pounds of finished turquoise--the total amount of polished cabs out of the mine was extremely small, and Landers is by far the rarest kind of classic American turquoise. But like all types of turquoise, it does come in different grades, and must be priced accordingly--the best Landers can fetch a price that is four times that of lesser grades from the same mine. To see examples of great Landers cabs, see TURQUOISE by Lowry and Lowry, page 228.

Like all things of great value, Landers has brought out the worst in many people. There are other types of turquoise that have similar matrix and coloration, and selling these stones as real Landers has become a growth industry. Indian Mountain can look very much like Landers, as can certain types of Chinese turquoise, and by simply changing the name on the label the price can grow from $15 per carat (or less) to over $100 per carat. There are specific ways to tell the difference, most of which involve a magnifier and strong light, but the average consumer is better off to simply not buy any turquoise as Landers unless the seller has a) a good reputation; b) a money-back guarantee; and c) a good reason for calling it Landers beyond just "it sure looks like it".

Most Landers that comes on the market ends up in the hands of the few Indian artists whose reputation and skill is high enough that their pricing structure can support such an expensive stone. It is rare to find a contemporary piece by a second-tier artist with Landers in it, because they simply can't afford to buy it for themselves. Also, the collectors who have the means to purchase Landers stones will generally hold out until they can have one of their favorites make them a special piece with it. Once in a while, a piece from the mid-1970s (when Landers came on to the market) will surface--TMT currently has a bolo and bracelet done in the Carl Luthy shop circa 1975 with Landers stones. But as a rule, 99% of what is being sold as Landers is actually something far less valuable.

For collectors looking to build their collection of turquoise, Landers should not be the place to start. Historically, it was so rare that it is the turquoise equivalent of a colored diamond: a rare and valuable variation that has a very small presence at the very top of the market. The other classic American mines, such as #8, Bisbee, Lone Mountain and Blue Gem, offer stones that are just as beautiful in their own way at a fraction of the price. For the advanced collector, a good Landers stone is the culmination of a collecting journey, but someone just beginning on that journey should spend their money enjoying every step along the way before draining their bank account to run straight to the top of the mountain.

How We Got Our Name

A lot of people ask us if there really is a Turkey Mountain. The answer is yes, there are many of them. There is one in Arizona, in the White Mountains, but that isn't our Turkey Mountain. The one from which we got our name is actually in southern Vermont, near the town of Jamaica (yes, there really is a Jamaica, Vermont).

When the Begner family started Turkey Mountain Traders, we were based in Jamaica, Vermont, and the family home was located on Turkey Mountain Road. It was as rural as it sounds--the driveway to the house was over a third of a mile long, and so steep that on snowy days or nights anyone stuck at the bottom without a good 4WD had a long, cold uphill hike ahead of them. And since this was in the days before cell phones, the only option was turning around and finding the nearest neighbor, half a mile away. Not such a good place to be in bad weather, but the views were fantastic.

The obvious next questions is whether there were turkeys on Turkey Mountain, and the answer is that there were lots of them. We had a flock that would come running down the hillside to eat the apples off our little apple tree in the back yard; first would come the male tom turkey leading the way, followed by the younger ones and the babies, with the females in the rear. Seeing the males up in the tree knocking off apples for the others was quite a sight, and during the summer and fall it would happen as often as the apple supply would allow. But one question we could never answer was howmany turkeys were in our little flock, because one week we would see twelve and another week there would be fifteen, and then back to twelve. We had no idea what happened to the other three, or why they didn't show up with their family and friends.

Then, one day, we heard an incredible racket out by the apple tree and found the turkeys gathered in their usual place--but there were not twelve, or fifteen. This time, there were TWENTY-SEVEN. And the two alpha tom turkeys were up in the tree, with a battle royale raging for apple dominance. Feathers were flying everywhere, and the little ones were getting in on the action. Mystery solved: Turkey Mountain was even more of a turkey haven than we had thought. We never found out who won, or what the long-term ramifications of the Battle of the Apple Tree really were, because we moved to Arizona soon afterwards and took the name with us, but not the turkeys.

Thankfully, while Steve was in the White Mountains last month with his wife Diana and son Evan, he saw a flock of wild turkeys crossing the road. It is comforting to know that Turkey Mountain Traders is still not far from our big feathered friends.

Around the bend--sizing and shaping bracelets

One of the great impediments to buying (or selling) a bracelet has always been the fit. After all, jewelry of any kind is meant to be worn (with the possible exception of some of the more extreme and dangerous contemporary pieces we have seen lately, which look like they were made to protect the wearer from the Visigoths). And if a piece is not comfortable, wearing it is out of the question. No one should have to suffer for their jewelry, and though all great pieces look wonderful on a shelf, it can be frustrating to own something that simply cannot be worn.

The Indian bracelet, when well-made, is a marvelously simple triumph of bioengineering. The cuff-style with the open back makes it easy to put on and take off with just a bit of practice, and the lack of hinges or sharp angles gives it strength and durability. Add to this the fact that silver is generally a malleable and forgiving material, and the end result can be a piece of art that is both strong and beautiful. And as anyone who has spent a lot of time looking at the back of old bracelet can tell you, there are very few tragedies that can befall a good old bracelet that will prove to be fatal--many old bracelets show some signs of native repair, and the best modern smiths can save all but the most hopeless patients from the scrap heap.

Somewhere along the line, many people got the idea that if a piece is an antique, it cannot be modified, adjusted, or even exposed to strong breath. This is true to the extent that the basic integrity of any antique must be respected and protected, but the beauty of Indian bracelets is that it is possible to reshape many them to some extent. The opening in the back gives the wearer a choice on how the bracelet should fit, and by opening or closing the gap a better fit can usually be found.

Here is an example of a bracelet that can be sized without much trouble:

The main impediment to bracelet sizing is stone settings. Sizing will always involve bending the silver part of the bracelet. If there are stones set in the area to be bent, the great fear is that the bending process will send the stones flying across the room, or even crack them within the setting. This bracelet only has a single stone in the middle, and there would be no reason to do any bending near the setting.

Here is an example of a bracelet that would be a bit more tricky but could still be sized:

With this one, the person doing the bending would need to be careful to restrict the manipulation of the silver to the area between the stones, as well as the sides where there are no stone settings. It could certainly be done, but it would take more time and care than with the first bracelet.

And here is one that presents a different kind of problem:

Row bracelets, especially ones made from thick ingot silver like this one, are very tricky. Most of the shaping needs to be done on the ends, and the great danger is that any major rounding of the overall shape will put too much stress on the stone settings. That is not to say that nothing can be done, but the usual "grab both ends and squeeze" technique is not the best idea. A professional with the proper tools can work wonders, so don't give up hope, but don't try this one at home.

And finally:

If this one doesn't fit now, it never will. Zuni inlay does not respond well to reshaping.

In terms of measurements, a good rule of thumb is to keep the opening in the back somewhere between 7/8" and 1 1/4". People with very thin wrists can live with an opening as small as 3/4" (or even less for the very tiny among us), and those who tend towards the burly need an opening that is even larger, but for the average person this is a good range--narrow enough so the bracelet will not slip off, but wide enough that it can be put on and taken off with comfort.

Once it has been established that a bracelet is an appropriate size (or can be made so), the important question to answer is whether or not it wears comfortably. Many older bracelets were made for native use, and therefore were made to fit a "Navajo wrist". In layman's terms, this means they were shaped wide and flat. To be worn on a modern wrist, it is sometimes necessary to have them reshaped to be more round. The overall measurements may stay the same, but the piece will wear better. And if the time comes when the bracelet reaches the market again, it is no problem to return it to its previous shape.

The basic lesson is that a buyer should not be afraid of how a bracelet fits the first time. The main consideration is whether it is something that would be a good addition to the collection, and then whether it can be adjusted to fit. In many cases, a little sizing and shaping can make all the difference.

The Perfect Navajo Collection

Every collector wants to have the best things available within their particular budget. And every collector has their own idea of what the "best" really is. We have our own ideas, of course, and thought it might be interesting for readers to see what the talking heads at Turkey Mountain Traders consider to be the components to as near a perfect collection of Navajo Indian jewelry as finances will allow.

THE OLD STUFF

FIRST PHASE BELT--A really fine First Phase concho belt is the cornerstone of every major collection. Even if it isn't worn, it can be hung on a wall to serve as a piece of great art. And if the money allows for a great Second Phase as well, even better.

CLASSIC SQUASH BLOSSOM NECKLACE--Any really high quality piece from the pre-1920 era will work. With stones or without is not as important as the overall quality of the piece.

TURQUOISE NECKLACE--The original Indian jewelry. An old tab necklace with pump-drilled stones is hard to find, but well worth the effort.

CLASSIC BRACELETS--optimally, an all-silver with repousse would be included, as would one with a turquoise-set plate on a band. And a really fine row bracelet, because it is such an important form.

RING--here, it is a personal choice. It is far more important to have one you like that fits well than to have something "important and great" that you hate wearing.

OLD EARRINGS--Old Navajo earrings are rare, but a pair of pyroform drops, hoop-and-balls or pierced crescents should be in there. If you prefer and aren't as much of a purist as to origin, a great pair of Pueblo wirework earrings would be fine.

OTHER THINGS--important but rare objects such as manta pins, headstalls, outstanding buttons and early silver boxes are things that might never be worn, but they tell a great story about the development of the art. Plus, they're a lot of fun to look at.

THE LATER STUFF

A STONE SQUASH BLOSSOM NECKLACE--One thing about pieces made in the 1930s, 40s and 50s is that the turquoise is often superior to that found in earlier pieces. Many of the highly important classic mines were opened or became commercially viable in that era, and pieces with incredible Blue Gem, #8 and Bisbee turquoise can be found. You can also find 1970s pieces with amazing turquoise, but be careful to find pieces where the quality of the silverwork is also high (such as Carl Luthy studio pieces).

A PINE SPRINGS SANDCAST PIECE (probably a bracelet)--The silversmiths working near Pine Springs, Arizona in the 1925-50 period produced some of the finest cast pieces ever made on the reservation. John Adair went to Pine Springs to watch people like Tom Burnsides and Charlie Houck work, and in his incomparably valuable book on Indian silversmiths commented on the quality of the sandcasting done there.

A GREAT CLUSTER BRACELET--we're kind of cheating here, because the best ones were Zuni made, but the Navajo are known to wear them at every fancy dress opportunity.

A FRED HARVEY BRACELET--they are not major pieces, but to have a Navajo collection without a tourist trade piece would be ignoring the thousands of smiths who made them. Some of them, especially the ones with petrified wood, are actually quite nice.

EARLY SIGNED PIECES--Navajo smiths started hallmarking in the 1930s, and pieces by Fred Peshlakai, Austin Wilson and Ambrose Roanhorse are both important and incredibly well-done.

MODERNIST PIECES--by which we are mainly talking about White Hogan and Navajo Guild pieces from the 1940s and 1950s. The all-silver pieces done by the Guild are supremely elegant, and the White Hogan work of Kenneth Begay and the Kee brothers has been discussed at length in every study of the art.

THE MODERN STUFF

THE BIG GUNS--modern Indian jewelry is very much name-driven. The finest jewelers have established their own styles, and can charge a premium for their work (especially if they work in gold). The absolute top of the ladder is occupied by people like Lee Yazzie, Raymond Yazzie, Vernon Haskie, James Little, Perry Shorty and Ric Charlie. There are other smiths doing very fine work, but those are some of the people who are more likely to be the big names people want in 30 or 40 years.

Future days for the website

Usually, I take the time in the blog to tell you things about our material. This time, I'm diverging from the norm a bit. I'd like to tell you some things about our website, and what you can expect from it in the future.

We have been somewhat aggressive in keeping our website as low-tech as possible, mainly because we have a deep-seated fear of complexity. To us, browsing the website should be a fun trip into a world we all enjoy, not a slog through an incomprehensible technological nightmare. This means no drop-down menus, and a cap on the number of items on the site at once. It means a website visitor can't see our entire inventory, but it also means that they can make it through everything they want to see without a bathroom break in the middle.

But, time marches on, and there are things we want to do with our website that require (gasp!) increased complexity. One of those things will involve videos, where we can speak directly to viewers and use some of our pieces to illustrate our points. We can hopefully do this without too much website revamping, and it should be ready to go in the next two or three months.

If you have any thoughts on the direction you would like the website to take, or any other features you would like us to include, please drop us a line any time. I don't think a streaming video feed from the gallery is in the cards, because nobody really wants to see what is going on there at two in the morning, but just about anything else is up for discussion.

A Return to the Land of Buttons

A few years ago, we were lucky enough to be able to offer the Jay Evetts collection of Indian silver buttons and dress ornaments. It was the finest private collection of its type, put together over a span of 35 years by one of the most respected traders in the business. The finest examples from the collection have long since passed into private and museum hands, and it is not likely that we will ever see their like again.

Here's Jay, in all his glory.

The only way to find buttons and ornaments of that quality is to wait for them to come out of nowhere, which never happens, or to see if some of Jay's pieces come back on the market. That is what has happened, and we are again proud to offer three incredibly fine pairs from his collection. These were among the best pieces he had, and were sold before the collection was offered publicly in Santa Fe--making them completely fresh to the market.

The pair on the right is the largest and most "typical" of the three pairs--it is a large and very well-made pair of moccasin buttons, circa 1930. Each button is 2 13/16" in diameter, which is at the upper end size-wise for Navajo buttons.

Here is a closer view of the pair, showing the marvelous stampwork edges and repousse sunburst design in the middle. The turquoise are a wonderful pale blue with just a hint of black matrix. It is one of the finest pairs of large buttons from that era known to exist, and was one of the highlights of his collection. $1600 with custom stand (KN MH/006)

The center pair are not true buttons, but rather dress ornaments. The only difference between ornaments and buttons to the Navajo, who did not use buttons in the traditional sense, was the number of sew loops on the back--buttons had one in the center, while ornaments had two or more on the back. Both were used purely for decoration, especially when they were this large.

Each ornament is 2 1/4" high, and nicely decorated with stampwork and repousse. They date to circa 1930, and include some absolutely gorgeous Lone Mountain turquoise. Of all the pieces in Jay's collection, this pair contained the finest turquoise. $1500 with custom stand (KN MH/007)

Finally, the most dramatic of the three pairs. Technically, they are ornaments because of the pair of sew loops on the back, but the distinction is not important. What is important is the incredible quality of the silverwork.

By style and technique, this pair can be attributed to the Goodluck family, and are the only attributable ornaments in the entire collection. The quality of the work is absolutely incredible, and the scale of the ornaments (2 1/2" high) is quite imposing. They would look at home on a top quality concho belt, but there is no evidence that they were ever made as anything other than a pair of ornaments. They date to circa 1940, and are SOLD with custom stand. (KN MH/003)

For those of you who are looking for something slightly smaller in Navajo buttons, we have the collection below, all of which were collected at the Oljato Trading Post in Utah before 1940. Prices on them vary, but range from $10 up to $100 for the largest and most elaborate. If any interest you, give us a call and we can pick some out for you.