This
splendidly illustrated book celebrates the historic silver and turquoise
jewelry of the Navajo and Pueblo Indians. 
It presents for the first time over 300 superb objects that are
usually hidden from view in museum storerooms and private collections across
the United States.  Larry Frank
discusses the history of this jewelry from 1868, when the Navajos were
restored to their homeland, to 1930, when tourist demand and mass production
ended the innovative first phase of the craft.  He explores early design sources in
contemporary Spanish, Mexican, and Plains Indian work; describes Navajo tools
and techniques (often used under conditions of extreme hardship); traces the
cultural development of jewelry-making from a past-time to an esteemed
profession; and notes the Pueblo Indians' contribution - the sophisticated
use of turquoise.  Of interest to specialists
will be his reevaluation of the Plains Indian contribution and his dating
sequence, based on close examination of the style and technique of hundreds
of objects.  Indian Silver Jewelry
contains 253 close-up photographs - 52 of them in color - of conchas,
necklaces, bracelets, rings, hair ornaments, bridles, and other pieces, as
well as rare photographs of Indians wearing jewelry.  The illustrations are grouped by collection
- The Smithsonian Institution, the Field Museum of Natural History, the
Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of New Mexico, the Heard Museum,
the Wheelwright Museum, the Millicent Rogers Museum, the Lynn D. Trusdell
Collection, and assorted private collections. 
The detailed captions invite the reader to look, compare, and discover
for himself the extraordinary beauty and vitality of Southwest Indian silver
jewelry.