how did navajo make jewelry

3 posts

22 June 2015; Navajo Silver Stamping

We discussed the tufa stone and sandcasting types of molding techniques the Navajo used for their silversmithing, but some of the work that is produced is too thin to be efficiently molded. So how did they make some of the thin detail work? This was done by hammering out coins! […]

25 February 2013; Navajo Silver Hammering

We discussed the tufa stone and sandcasting types of molding techniques the Navajo used for their silversmithing, but some of the work that is produced is too thin to be efficiently molded. So how did they make some of the thin detail work? This was done by hammering out coins! […]

21 January 2013; Navajo Sandcasting

Making a mold out of tufa stone was discussed in a previous post, but how did the Navajo mass produce some of their work if the mold would only work for a small number of pieces? In the mid 1800’s the Navajo started a process that is known as sandcasting. […]