Robert Taylor
Navajo 14k Gold and Turquoise Bear Fetish Bracelet - Robert Taylor (#43)
$2,750.00
Artist: Robert Taylor
Navajo Jewelry
Inner Circumference: 5 3/4"
Opening: 1"
Total: 6 3/4"
Navajo silversmith Robert Taylor wanted to share a bit of safety and stability with this wrist cuff. Bears are a gift of Changing Woman to guard the people, and arrowheads are a gift of Grandfather Horned Toad to protect against great danger. Robert wrapped his golden bear in shrouds of blue sky, to show that higher powers are involved. Robert Taylor is a master silversmith; his designs are graceful and dramatic at the same time and his finish detail is amazing.
We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every purchase.
About the artist:
Robert Taylor - Silver & Goldsmith:
"Cluster, channel, leaf, inlay, casting... I've done about everything," Robert Taylor talks about his silver and goldsmithing, "There's a lot of artists that do it." And then he confides the reason he has set himself apart from other craftsmen. "I didn't really get anywhere until I decided to design my own style."
Related legends:
Protection/Practice
Ambush, a shelter formed by two trees or shrubs whose branches intermingle, is a setting repeatedly occurring in myth, giving the explanation for various ritualistic properties-emetic frames, hoops, pokers, prayersticks, wood samples. A hero, hoping to shoot a mountain sheep or other animal he did not recognize as a god, lay behind the 'ambush trees,' but when the animal appeared, was numb until it had passed. The animal deity, revealing himself, taught the hero ceremonial lore? More about this legend
Navajo 14k Gold, Turquoise, and Coral Protection Brecelet - Robert Taylor (#42)
$2,750.00
Artist: Robert Taylor
Navajo Jewelry
Inner Circumference: 6 1/4"
Opening: 1 1/8"
Total: 7 3/8"
Turquoise and coral, silver and gold, land and sky, shepherd and livestock; these are combinations as old as Navajo culture itself. Robert Taylor combines all these elements to make one extraordinary man’s bracelet. Robert’s sense of humor is as well developed as his silversmithing skills, so you get a humorous commentary on Navajo lifestyle in a cuff you will treasure the rest of your life, and maybe into the afterlife.
We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every purchase.
About the artist:
Robert Taylor - Silver & Goldsmith:
"Cluster, channel, leaf, inlay, casting... I've done about everything," Robert Taylor talks about his silver and goldsmithing, "There's a lot of artists that do it." And then he confides the reason he has set himself apart from other craftsmen. "I didn't really get anywhere until I decided to design my own style."
Related legends:
Protection/Practice
Ambush, a shelter formed by two trees or shrubs whose branches intermingle, is a setting repeatedly occurring in myth, giving the explanation for various ritualistic properties-emetic frames, hoops, pokers, prayersticks, wood samples. A hero, hoping to shoot a mountain sheep or other animal he did not recognize as a god, lay behind the 'ambush trees,' but when the animal appeared, was numb until it had passed. The animal deity, revealing himself, taught the hero ceremonial lore? More about this legend
Navajo Silver Brooch w/ Lifestyle Design - Robert Taylor (#07)
$525.00
Artist: Robert Taylor
Navajo Jewelry
1 1/2" x 2 1/4"
This broach is the product of a conversation with Navajo artist Robert Taylor concerning the Peace Medals the U.S. government passed out to Native tribes who were acting according to policy. Robert thought it would be fun to make a medal such as the Navajo might pass back to a general or the president. The scene on the pin depicts a Navajo free to move about his homeland enjoying nature and the peace and solitude he was once so familiar with. Robert thinks this medal would look nice on a military uniform, suit or a woman's Gingham dress.
We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every purchase.
About the artist:
Robert Taylor - Silver & Goldsmith:
"Cluster, channel, leaf, inlay, casting... I've done about everything," Robert Taylor talks about his silver and goldsmithing, "There's a lot of artists that do it." And then he confides the reason he has set himself apart from other craftsmen. "I didn't really get anywhere until I decided to design my own style."
Related legends:
Silversmith Work
When and how the Navajo acquired the art of working metals is unknown but there are reasons for supposing that it was introduced among them, or at least more developed and improved upon by them, since the time they have occupied their present country?
Navajo Silver Fetish Bear Dangle Brooch - Robert Taylor (#46)
$525.00
Artist: Robert Taylor
Navajo Jewelry
1 1/2" x 2 1/4"
This bear fetish brooch by Robert Taylor features his signature motif in an unusual format. It’s made entirely of sterling silver and hand stamped with excellence. The precision he takes with his silver stamping tools is magnificent. When he comes in the Trading Post, Robert always has a smile and a joke for us. We enjoy his humor greatly, and his work isn’t bad either.
We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every purchase.
About the artist:
Robert Taylor - Silver & Goldsmith:
"Cluster, channel, leaf, inlay, casting... I've done about everything," Robert Taylor talks about his silver and goldsmithing, "There's a lot of artists that do it." And then he confides the reason he has set himself apart from other craftsmen. "I didn't really get anywhere until I decided to design my own style."
Related legends:
Silversmith Work
When and how the Navajo acquired the art of working metals is unknown but there are reasons for supposing that it was introduced among them, or at least more developed and improved upon by them, since the time they have occupied their present country?
Navajo Sterling Silver and 14k Gold with Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Lifestyle Bracelet - Robert Taylor (#44)
$2,975.00
Artist: Robert Taylor
Navajo Jewelry
Inner Circumference: 6 1/4"
Opening: 1 1/8"
Total: 7 3/8"
When it comes to Robert Taylor’s work, gold and silver go together like Navajo and sheep. So, as you can see, this Navajo lifestyle bracelet is the perfect combination, symbolically and culturally, artistically and aesthetically, naturally and truthfully. Robert is a great guy and a great artist. Oh yea, did we say we love this bracelet.
We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every purchase.
Sleeping Beauty Turquoise
The Sleeping Beauty turquoise mine is located seven miles from Globe, Arizona. The mine is one of the largest producers of turquoise in North America. The mine, and the turquoise extracted from it, derives its name from Sleeping Beauty Mountain, which at one time was part of the Copper Cities operation. The center of the copper mine is located at approximately 33o24"13.23"N. 110o53'34. 60"W, at an elevation of 1224 feet. Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Mining is presently owned and operated by Monty Nichols.
For many centuries before the first Europeans made their way into Arizona, turquoise was being mined on the slopes of Sleeping Beauty Mountain. The Salado and other ancient peoples mined the beautiful sky stone from several surface outcroppings located in the vicinity, including Pinto Valley. It is believed that Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to locate the source of Sleeping Beauty sometime around the 1860s. By the 1870s, small underground mines pockmarked the hills surrounding present day Globe.
Cities Service Company started the Copper Cities Mine (commonly called the Sleeping Beauty Mine) in 1952 and operated it until the Pinto Valley mine opened in 1972. During the 1960s, L.W. Hardy had the contract to mine turquoise, both at Sleeping Beauty and at Castle Dome, later called the Pinto Valley Mine. Formerly a meat cutter at a market in Miami, Hardy recognized early on that turquoise was more valuable as a gemstone than the associated copper.
By the time the turquoise boom began, Hardy had contracts with mining companies in Miami, Kingman and elsewhere. He also developed a method for stabilizing low-grade, porous turquoise with pressure-impregnated hot acrylic resin, which hardened the stone and improved the color.
Hardy's mining methods were primitive when compared with current operations. Hardy's workers sat in a ditch ripped by a bulldozer and hand picked the stone from waste-rock. Hardy mined turquoise at Sleeping Beauty for 22 years, getting about 45 percent recovery, and leaving the rest in waste dumps.
Monty Nichols received the contract to mine Sleeping Beauty turquoise in 1988, and began using modern mining methods to develop the property. Nichols drills and blasts the overburden, hauling it to the abandoned Copper Cities pit, which now contains the recycled tailings from Miami Copper Company's No. 5 tailing dam. The old dam dominated the eastern skyline of downtown Miami until recently. The year Nichols acquired the contract; he began a two-year project to remove 5,000.000 tons of overburden. Located half way up the side of an open pit mine, the narrow turquoise-bearing zone has about 400 feet of hard waste rock on top of it. In order to move sideways into the ore-body, a whole slice of the mountain had to be removed.
To avoid fracturing the turquoise, Nichols was careful not to blast too near the turquoise-bearing strata. That layer is more crumbly, so the miners can rip it and dump it over screens, separating the material by size. No crushers are used, again to avoid fracturing the gemstone, and the different sized rock is hauled up to a wide mine bench where conveyor belts move the material through three buildings. There, workers handpick turquoise from the broken rock. The buildings are vented with filtered air to eliminate workers' exposure to dust, and well insulated to keep them comfortable in any weather. It is a far cry from the old methods of mining. Anywhere from 30 to 40 people work at the mine at any one time, depending on how much mining there is to do.
Fifty years ago, mine workers filled lunch buckets with the colorful rock, even though it was reason for immediate termination. Old habits die hard, and some people still think it is okay to sneak in and try to pick turquoise. As a result, security is tight in and around the mine. Motion detectors, night vision cameras and 24/7 roving patrols are used, so the only turquoise leaving the property now is being shipped to markets around the world.
Italy is the largest volume buyer of Sleeping Beauty turquoise, with Germany and Hong Kong following closely behind. These customers buy the best grade for their exclusive jewelry. Jewelry makers in India and Spain also receive Sleeping Beauty turquoise, while in the U.S., Gallup and Albuquerque are the largest consumers.
The Sleeping Beauty turquoise mine produces a uniform light to medium blue turquoise with rare finds of deep, dark blue. Because of its uniformity, it has been a favorite of the Zuni Pueblo. Zuni silversmiths often use it in channel inlay and various types of cluster work that require large numbers of small, perfectly matched stones. The Sleeping Beauty mine has been one of the larger producers of rough turquoise in the United States, although today much less good turquoise is being produced than in the past.
Sleeping Beauty turquoise is noted for its solid, light blue color with no matrix; the host rock is usually granite. Nichols says the mine is producing about 1,600 pounds a month. Of that, only four percent is natural; most of the turquoise from the mine is altered in some way. Most is enhanced, which is more expensive than stabilization, and sold to large distributors in this country and Europe. Currently most of the turquoise that comes from the mine is from the tons of tailings piles that have been accumulating for decades.
The best of the Sleeping Beauty turquoise is comparable to that found in the Middle East. It is thought that large quantities of Sleeping Beauty turquoise is taken overseas and smuggled into, then out of, Iran to be sold as “Persian” turquoise.
About the artist:
Robert Taylor - Silver & Goldsmith:
"Cluster, channel, leaf, inlay, casting... I've done about everything," Robert Taylor talks about his silver and goldsmithing, "There's a lot of artists that do it." And then he confides the reason he has set himself apart from other craftsmen. "I didn't really get anywhere until I decided to design my own style."
Related legends:
Silversmith Work
When and how the Navajo acquired the art of working metals is unknown but there are reasons for supposing that it was introduced among them, or at least more developed and improved upon by them, since the time they have occupied their present country?
Navajo Sterling Silver Bear Pendant - Robert Taylor (#45)
$375.00
Artist: Robert Taylor
Navajo Jewelry
1 1/2" x 1 1/2"
The bear has special significance to the Navajo people, and Robert Taylor has captured this emotion with his sterling silver and Sleeping Beauty turquoise bear pendant. This work of art is so clean it is classic. Of course, Robert himself is a classic. Recognized as a master silversmith, Robert has developed a sterling name for himself in the realm of Southwest art. This bear pendant shows all the reasons why his reputation is clear-cut.
We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every purchase.
About the artist:
Robert Taylor - Silver & Goldsmith:
"Cluster, channel, leaf, inlay, casting... I've done about everything," Robert Taylor talks about his silver and goldsmithing, "There's a lot of artists that do it." And then he confides the reason he has set himself apart from other craftsmen. "I didn't really get anywhere until I decided to design my own style."
See full biography
Related legends:
Silversmith Work
When and how the Navajo acquired the art of working metals is unknown but there are reasons for supposing that it was introduced among them, or at least more developed and improved upon by them, since the time they have occupied their present country?
Navajo Sterling Silver w/ Sleeping Beauty Turquoise 2 Sided Reversable Pendant - Robert Taylor (#39)
$875.00
Artist: Robert Taylor
Navajo Jewelry
1 7/8" x 1 7/8"
Navajo artist, Robert Taylor, has made a name for himself in the world of Native American Indian art. His attention to detail and extraordinary silversmithing skills place him at the top of his craft. Having been raised on the Navajo reservation, Robert draws inspiration from his early home and family life. As a young boy, Robert, was allowed the opportunity to ride his horse across the wide-open spaces of his homeland. Rug weaving was something his mother and grandmother did on a daily basis. Surrounded by the ceremonial basket motif, Robert proudly shares his heritage through this pendant. The degree of difficulty associated with this work of art is extreme, but Robert handles such things with ease.
We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every purchase.
About the artist:
Robert Taylor - Silver & Goldsmith:
"Cluster, channel, leaf, inlay, casting... I've done about everything," Robert Taylor talks about his silver and goldsmithing, "There's a lot of artists that do it." And then he confides the reason he has set himself apart from other craftsmen. "I didn't really get anywhere until I decided to design my own style."
Related legends:
Silversmith Work
When and how the Navajo acquired the art of working metals is unknown but there are reasons for supposing that it was introduced among them, or at least more developed and improved upon by them, since the time they have occupied their present country?
Navajo Sterling Silver Yei Pendant - Robert Taylor (#36)
$625.00
Artist: Robert Taylor
Navajo Jewelry
1" x 3 1/2"
Corn Yeis are significant to the Navajo because they represent creation, fruition, multiplication and upward movement. Robert Taylor, a real character and master silversmith, has created a gracefully flowingly, sterling silver pendent using the imagery of this genuinely significant deity. Because "The People" believe they were created from corn, it is often represented in their art. Robert has a passion for his culture and his art, which is why both are so well presented in this piece.
We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every purchase.
About the artist:
Robert Taylor - Silver & Goldsmith:
"Cluster, channel, leaf, inlay, casting... I've done about everything," Robert Taylor talks about his silver and goldsmithing, "There's a lot of artists that do it." And then he confides the reason he has set himself apart from other craftsmen. "I didn't really get anywhere until I decided to design my own style."
Related legends:
Silversmith Work
When and how the Navajo acquired the art of working metals is unknown but there are reasons for supposing that it was introduced among them, or at least more developed and improved upon by them, since the time they have occupied their present country?
Silver Buffalo Pendant w/ Turquoise accents - Robert Taylor (#023)
$315.00
Artist: Robert Taylor
Navajo Jewelry
Sterling Silver Overlay Buffalo Pendant with Turquoise accents
1 1/4" tall x 1 1/4" wide
We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every purchase.
About the artist:
Robert Taylor - Silver & Goldsmith:
"Cluster, channel, leaf, inlay, casting... I've done about everything," Robert Taylor talks about his silver and goldsmithing, "There's a lot of artists that do it." And then he confides the reason he has set himself apart from other craftsmen. "I didn't really get anywhere until I decided to design my own style."
Related legends:
Silversmith Work
When and how the Navajo acquired the art of working metals is unknown but there are reasons for supposing that it was introduced among them, or at least more developed and improved upon by them, since the time they have occupied their present country?
Sterling Silver Broach w/ Navajo Rug Design - Robert Taylor (#29)
$525.00
Artist: Robert Taylor
Navajo Jewelry
Sterling Silver Broach w/ Navajo Rug Design
1 9/16" x 2 1/4"
Robert Taylor has crafted an unusual brooch based on the old-time peace medals handed out by the United States government in the mid to late 1800's. These symbols of accord and commitment were given to Navajo tribal leaders after signing the latest and most comprehensive peace treaty. New and clever ideas don't occur very often in the jewelry trade, but Robert has latched onto one here. The Navajo people may have been bamboozled out of their most prized real estate, but they are having the last laugh. With the discovery of gas and oil under what was once considered worthless land, they have found a bit of peace in the income allowed by an inconspicuous buried treasure.
We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every purchase.
About the artist:
Robert Taylor - Silver & Goldsmith:
"Cluster, channel, leaf, inlay, casting... I've done about everything," Robert Taylor talks about his silver and goldsmithing, "There's a lot of artists that do it." And then he confides the reason he has set himself apart from other craftsmen. "I didn't really get anywhere until I decided to design my own style."
Related legends:
Silversmith Work
When and how the Navajo acquired the art of working metals is unknown but there are reasons for supposing that it was introduced among them, or at least more developed and improved upon by them, since the time they have occupied their present country?
Weaving
After the medicine woman told the people about the prayersticks she told them that there was a place in the underworld where two rivers crossed. It was called ni tqin'kae tsosi, fine fiber cotton (Indian hemp). There were two persons who brought the seed of that plant, they were spiders. They said that the people were to use the plant instead of skins for their clothing. So this seed was planted in the earth? More about this legend