Native American Indian Turquoise Jewelry: How to Identify, Date, Price Squash Blossom Jewelry

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Native American squash blossom necklaces are some of the best known Indian jewelry. Learn how to date, identify and price squash blossom turquoise necklaces through the eyes of Dr. Mark Sublette who has dealt in Indian jewelry for over 20 years.
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Native American Indian Turquoise Jewelry: How to Identify, Date, Price Squash Blossom Jewelry
The piece that I have on here is Della Casa Appa, and she was a Zuni artist. (It’s) very interesting because really women weren't allowed at one point to be doing jewelry like this, or it was considered maybe not to be appropriate, but she started doing the jewelry, and of course, she was fabulous, and now (this) is highly collectible. And at today's market women, men, they all do it and there's nothing considered to be inappropriate by one sex doing it or not or the other.
What you see behind me are just examples of squash blossoms. They're both Zuni and Navajo primarily behind us, but you'll see them by the Hopi and some of the Pueblos would make them.
Squash blossom necklaces started really about the 1880s, and these early pieces are the most simple, and to some extent, the most valuable because they're rare. They're just very simple silver beads.
By the 1900s, you started to see the classic - what we consider the squash blossoms - where they would add the small little in to the silver beads, which is a pomegranate. The pomegranate was, again, something that had come from the Spanish as well as this, which is the naja.
The naja is a crescent, which for the Spanish is very sacred and has to do with taking away spirits, but for the Navajos it really didn't have a spiritual meaning, but they liked the imagery. And I think some of it had this feeling of a horse culture, so they incorporated into their necklaces and their jewelry, and now, of course the squash blossom, with the naja is considered to be the prototypical Navajo or Indian-looking piece of Native American jewelry.
From the 1900s to about the 40s, the squash blossoms basically were kind of the same. What happened in the 1960s and 70s timeframe was there's explosion of Native American turquoise jewelry. I think part of this probably went along with the hippie and the free love. And the whole Indian movement kind of really had the roots in that time frame.
But, because there was such a demand for early Native American jewelry, especially squash blossom turquoise necklaces, you saw a huge proliferation of people making these, and quite frankly, the demand was so great that it outstripped what was available. So, the price structure on these just skyrocketed and pieces from the 60s and 70s, which at that time might have cost as much as $2,500 now might be more like $500 because there was so much produced - some of it not as good a quality as what you would see in the earlier pieces.
At Medicine Man Gallery, we really try to specialize more in Old Pawn Jewelry that is from the 1880s through the 40s, but we also carry nice pieces from the 60s and 70s, and they're still making fine Native American turquoise jewelry today.
So, what can you expect to pay for an authentic antique squash blossom necklace? Well, if it's an early 1880s to turn-of-the-century piece with very simple silver beads, and this type of piece could bring as much as $8500 maybe even $10,000.
As time went on in the 20s and 30s timeframe, you could get a squash blossom and you can today for anywhere between $1200 to $4,500. A vintage piece, like that I have around my neck, made by very well-known artist, but early from the 40s, might be in the 4 to $5,000 range.
The turquoise pieces that are from the 60s 70s, and maybe to some extent, the 50s can bring anywhere from 350 to $1,200. What I'd like you to finally think about when you do think about squash blossoms, is they are beautiful examples that can be worn by men or women, and they’re still as contemporary as they were a hundred years ago as they are today. So, that's the scoop on vintage Native American turquoise squash blossom necklaces.