Dig It - 3/15/22

Hey Fellow Seekers, I have the distinct privilege of having owned, if only briefly, this bracelet twice. It is one of the very finest early bracelets extant.

It was in the collection of Cornelia Thompson, an old time resident of Santa Fe back in the days of Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, Ansel Adams, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Willa Cather and Laura Gilpin. In fact, some pieces of Cornelia’s Navajo jewelry are pictured in Gilpin’s "The Enduring Navaho”. It is rumored that Gilpin and Thompson were lovers. But, back to the bracelet, it is the epitome of the Navajo concept of “Hozo”, beauty through balance and harmony.

With just a few tools and a crude set up, a Navajo silversmith made this exquisite bracelet sometime in the late 19th century. This is what the great ones look like.