Pre-WWII Antique Southwest Native Navajo Spoon Decorative 1900s Whirling Logs for Sale

On eBay Now...

Pre-WWII Antique Southwest Native Navajo Spoon Decorative 1900s Whirling Logs For Sale

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Pre-WWII Antique Southwest Native Navajo Spoon Decorative 1900s Whirling Logs:
$495.00

Extremely rare turn of the century Native American Navajo Indian spoon adorned with the original good luck symbol which was modified and rebranded during wwii. At this moment in time before that era of the 1930s it was a universal symbol for good luck.

The swstika, or interpretation of the sun wheel, is a symbol of eternity with a highly mystical value. The swstika has long been used by various Indian tribes, particularly in the Southwestern United States, each giving it a different meaning. Thus, among the Hopis, it represents the peregrinations of the clans, while among the Navajos, it is the "wirling log" linked to healing rites. The swstika was found in the archaeological sites of the Mississippi civilization in Ohio. At the beginning of the Second World War, the Navajo, Apache Tohono, O'odham, and Hopi tribes officially renounced its use on their everyday objects and artistic creations

Also carved on the spoon are crossed arrows.

Amazing and extremely rare find!

Spoons such as this appeared in pamphlets and catalogs of Navajo traders as early as 1902 and possibly earlier. Traders such as Lorenzo Hubbell, C. N. Cotton, and J. B. Moore featured them. Moore advertised them at $1.50 per oz.

The fascination with Navajo-made silver spoons waned around 1915. Navajo smiths switched from making souvenir spoons to making, on special order, complete table service silver.

Navajo silverwork came of age in the era when train travel opened up the West and Native artisans and traders entered and expanded the American marketplace. The Victorian love of flatware—a spoon for bonbons was not to be confused with a Stilton or salt spoon or a melon server—and the national obsession with commemorative silver met the classic phase of Navajo silversmithing. The intriguing artistry of Navajo spoons was the resulting hybrid of this unique cross-cultural experiment. From the 1880s to the Second World War, Navajo smiths brought the highest level of skill and invention to functional teaspoons, servers, and sugar shells. At the same time, the spoons were the canvas for ethnic art, a sculptural form for the interplay of thunderbirds, tribal profiles, and decorative motifs found in jewelry and other cultural arts of the period.

An utterly unique art form, now ardently sought by collectors and aficionados of Indian-made jewelry, Navajo spoons are rare mementos of Navajo artistry and the souvenir trade.