It is hard to look at this bracelet without being awestruck. The unique design and the superb craftsmanship are stellar.
Jimmie King, Jr. has been making jewelry since the 1970s and his work has been featured in a number of publications. See the excerpt below from Gregory Schaaf’s book for a list.
Scroll through the detailed photos of this inlay bracelet by Jimmie King, Jr. to see all of its unique features.
Paula
Jacob (Jake) Livingston was born in 1946 in Dine Haven, New Mexico to Jacob Haloo, Sr. and Lolap Haloo. He later changed his name to Jake H. Livingston.
Actively making jewelry since the 1970s, he is a multiple award winner including 1988 IACA Artist of the Year. He has used several marks. The J-I.LIVINGSTON mark includes his wife, Irene Owens Livingston.
Take a look at this beautiful bird bracelet in our Vintage Shop.
Scroll through the eight photos below to see details of the bracelet and to see more of Jake Livingston’s work as shown in American Indian Jewelry by Gregory Schaaf.
Paula
Almost every day I wear one or two sterling silver Native American rings. Some are made solely of sterling silver. Others are inlaid with a variety of stones and shells or adorned with turquoise and other precious stones. For me, its important to pick the right ring for what I have lined up for the day or night.
Although the rings in these photos are my personal rings and not for sale, if you click on the photos, they will take you to pages of similar rings that are for sale at the Horsekeeping webstore.
First of all, because I support Native American artists both contemporary and past, I try to only wear rings that are Native American made by enrolled members of Indian tribes in the United States. The rings I wear are either Navajo, Hopi, Zuni or Lakota made.
Sometimes with vintage rings it is hard to tell who made the ring because it was not common to sign or stamp a hallmark on Native American jewelry until relatively recently.
RANCH WORK
One factor that affects which ring I will wear is that I live on a ranch. When I am going to be outdoors or working in the barn near metal panels, banging gates, handling ropes, reins and such, I opt for simple rings such as a well-fitting silver band.
When wearing a simple silver band, there is very little that could get caught and rip my finger off. Plus, by not wearing my stone or inlay rings around the barn, I run a much smaller risk of cracking the stones.
Sterling rings are safe to leave on when I wash my hands, something I do quite a bit up at the barn. So here are some of the ranch rings I wear. As you view these photos, remember that coffee is one of the essential fuels on a horse ranch.
OFFICE WORK
When I am at work at Horsekeeping, the Native American Jewelry webstore, it basically involves sitting at a desk typing, taking photos of jewelry, pulling items to fill orders and the like. My office ring options are much broader.
Still, though I usually wear moderate rings to work, I don’t wear rings that are too huge or have prominent features. Since many of my “work day” rings have stones, inlay, petit point or needle point, I made sure to remove rings before I wash my hands because getting stone rings wet can do a couple of things, all bad.
First of all, with repeated wetting and drying, the adhesive behind inlay rings can become softened and eventually let go of the stonework.
I’ll never forget the customer who said “After I washed my hands in a rest area just like usual, I watched my turquoise inlay slide down the drain.” No comment.
With stone settings, since most are backed with sawdust or another shock absorbing material, getting them wet will cause that material to swell and push the stone upward, putting pressure on the bezels which often let go of the stone.
Again, a customer, “After I took a shower, the stone just popped out.” Ah hah.
COCKTAIL RINGS
The final category is date rings AKA cocktail rings. For that special night out when all you have to do is lift a fork or a glass.
Cocktail rings are those unique creations that are saved for special occasions when you are just plain showing off. Often large and worn on an index or middle finger, these rings look great whether you are picking up a cup of tea or a glass of whisky. The big bad boys just call out for your date and others in the area to check out your hands and your fabulous Native American made ring.
Choose an authentic Native American made ring and you’ll always have a winning hand.
Paula
The breathtaking, large and very detailed photographs is this coffee table style book make you feel like you are almost holding the jewelry. The sumptuous pieces are captivating. I’ve spent hours paging back and forth through the beautiful work, drooling over the buckles.
9 3/4″ x 9 3/4″
Hardbound with dust jacket
272 pages
Full color
There are many outstanding Yazzie jewelers. Because the subtitle uses the phrase “Yazzie Family” I expected more Yazzie artists to be included. However, this book mainly focuses on the life and work of brothers Lee and Raymond Yazzie. There is a good deal of text about the family, design, techniques and materials.
It devotes a few pages to the Yazzie Sisters who make a variety of necklaces and bracelets and sterling silver Navajo Pearl necklaces.
This 1970s Lee Yazzie buckle is part of my personal collection.
2014
National Museum of the American Indian
Smithsonian Institution
Glittering World
Navajo Jewelry of the Yazzie Family
by Lois Sherr Dubin
Paula
Navajo artist Mary Livingston has been actively making jewelry since the 1970s.
She specializes in mosaic inlay and carved stone pieces.
Her hallmark is either ML or MARY LIVINGSTON. Below are two examples of her hallmark.
Here is a beautiful piece of her work, a turquoise eagle collar.
Another one-of-a-kind creation made by Mary Livingston is this enormous carved turquoise chief belt buckle.
Paula
The Clothing Store CollectionThis collection is from the estate of a woman who owned and operated retail clothing stores in Pinetop and Show Low, Arizona from 1973 to the mid 1980s.
She ran the stores on a day to day basis and knew many of the Santo Domingo, Navajo and Zuni women who shopped in her stores. They would often bring in their hand-made jewelry to trade for clothing. She was glad to trade with the women and she sold their jewelry in her stores.
The store owner’s heir, her son, said that since his mother knew the women personally, she never wrote down their names so he has no record of who made the jewelry items she took in on trade.
The work is beautifully done and the materials are excellent – perhaps you will recognize the work of one of your favorite collectible artists from the 1970s and 1980s. Visit the necklaces from the clothing store collection by clicking here.
Here are some jaclas.
Here are some jacla style necklaces
Delicate bird fetish necklaces – watch the slide show
Beautiful turquoise stone necklaces from when when turquoise was a little easier to purchase !
Paula
In days gone by, small to medium pins were commonly worn on blazer lapels, sweaters, coats, jackets, scarves. clutch purses and hats…………pins were a fashion staple.
See the slide show below for samples of classic Navajo pins.
A brooch is a large decorative piece of jewelry pinned to a sweater or dress to complete and outfit and make a bold statement. Large grandmother pins can be thought of as a brooch.
Native American artists have made many styles of pins over the years and continue to do so today. They range in size from tie tacks and hat pins all the way up to large petit point pins and employ all types of animals, symbols and designs.
See the slide show below for samples of Zuni, Hopi and Navajo symbols.
Although I have written about ways to use pins in previous blog posts, truth be told, I rarely use pins unless it is as a pendant, using a pin-to-pendant converter.
See these articles:
Native American Pins Beautify Handbags
Like many Native American jewelry aficionados, I have accumulated quite a few pins and rather than just look at them in a drawer or box, I decided to use a denim vest to display some of them.
See the slide show below for examples of animal pins.
Butterfly pins are popular by both Zuni and Navajo artists.
Cluster and grandmother pins are made by both Zuni and Navajo artists.
Paula
If you are like me and have been a Native American jewelry aficionado for years, you likely have a drawer full of beautiful pins – in my case they are Navajo, Hopi, Zuni and Lakota pins that haven’t seen the light of day for a while.
I do wear a pin on a shirt every now and then but they really need to be showcased more often.
One way to feature a large pin is solo on a special handbag. Here is a gorgeous 3″ x 2 1/4″ vintage pin on a stunning Estellon bag from France (the clutch was a gift from a dear friend in Paris and I had the perfect large pin for it!).
Below are a few large pins that would be perfect for solo use on a handbag.
Another way to showcase a large group is to round up all your horses and pin them onto a fabric bag.
This incredibly cool denim handbag was made from a pair of Wrangler jeans and just cries out for horse pins ! Alright, maybe I overloaded it, but nobody wanted to be left out!
Here are some horse pins like the ones I have on my bag. Click to see more.
Happy Pinning !! Paula
The term slave bracelet refers to a style of jewelry that has a chain or other attachment from the bracelet to one or more finger rings. Commonly there is a central piece (island or hand connector) between the ring and bracelet that rests on the back of the hand.Â
This fashion originated in Africa and is associated with India – harems, belly dancers and the like. The design was likely adopted by Native Americans for tourists after the bracelets became popular in the 1920s American flapper culture.
In spite of the negative connotation of the word slave and its various meanings, the style continues to be popular and has no other name that I am aware of.
Paula
This bracelet, likely from 1920s- 1940s (per some learned colleagues) has a distinctive bee stamp on it.
This stamp has been linked to some very old jewelry but so far I have not been able to pin down who might have made this stamp or who used it.
If you have any information on the bee stamp, I’d love to know.
Thanks, Paula
Native American Jewelry Tips 