aborigines of North and South America is, in the main, negative.
This is the case with the Pacific coast Indians, as well as with the
Chiriqui graves and other ancient remains in the present United States
of Colombia.[37] Indeed, so far as can be ascertained, the wearing of
rings is essentially an Oriental fashion and was brought to the ancient
peoples of Europe from the East. Still, here and there on the North
American continent, as in the instance above noted, rings have been
found in burials believed to be pre-Columbian.
To the very few pre-Columbian rings found in Indian mounds, belong
four from Ohio, now in the collection of the Ohio State Archæological
and Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio. One of the rings was unearthed
twenty years ago from a mound in Hamilton County; it is of spiral form
and was on the middle finger of the left hand of a skeleton. The three
others came from the Adana Mound, two of them being spiral-rings, both
found on the middle finger of a skeleton’s left hand; the third is not
a complete circle, and was picked up at the base of the mound. The
spiral-rings are very finely and delicately fashioned.[38]
The Aztecs of ancient Mexico executed many ornamental objects of gold,
silver, copper and tin, and worked in iron and lead as well. Specimens
of this silversmiths’ work were sent by Fernan Cortés to Emperor
Charles V, and their artistic quality elicited the admiration of the
Spanish jewellers. These seem to have been only a small portion of
the rich booty gathered by the Spanish Conquistador, the metal worth
of which he estimated at 100,000 ducats ($250,000), or even more,
according to the statement in a letter addressed to his sovereign. The
greater part of this treasure is believed to have been lost during
the “_Noche Triste_,” the “Night of Sorrows,” when the Spanish
conquerors were surprised and attacked in Mexico City by the native
warriors, and were forced to seek safety, after suffering considerable
losses in a retreat from the narrow, city streets into the open
country, where they could better utilize the enormous superiority
conferred on them by their fire-arms. Even the few specimens which
were actually brought to Charles V seem to have disappeared, and were
probably melted down for use as bullion.[39]
Of the silversmiths’ methods a little can be learned from a study of
Aztec paintings. Thus we are able to know that they used the crucible,
the muffle and the blow-pipe. The statement is made by Torquemada and
by Clavigo that they possessed the now lost art of casting objects
half of gold and half of silver. Some fine examples of Aztec work in
gold and silver are to be seen in the marvelous collections of the
Museo Nacional in Mexico City, and among them are several finger-rings.
One of these comes from Teotihuacan; its broad hoop is decorated with
the head of one of the Aztec gods, wearing an elaborate and curiously
complicated head-dress. Other gold rings are of a peculiar type, the
inner half of the hoop being only about two-fifths as high as the
outer and very broad half, so that the finger could be closed without
inconvenience.[40]
[Illustration: Ancient Indian rings. 1, copper finger ring. From
a grave in cemetery at mouth of the Wabash, Southern Indiana,
1898. 2, stone ring (?). From Red Paint Cemetery, Orland, Maine.
Explored by W. K. Moorehead in 1912. 3, shell ring, broken. From
adobe ruin. Mesa, Arizona, 1898. All full size
Courtesy of Mr. Warren K. Moorehead]
[Illustration: Ancient Indian metal finger rings. 1, spiral ring
from middle finger of a skeleton. Hamilton Co., Ohio. 2, broken
ring taken from floor of Adana Mound, Ohio. 3 and 4, rings from
middle finger of skeleton found in the Adana Mound, Ohio. Natural
size]
[Illustration: Four thin shell rings from the Indian adobe ruins
near Phoenix, Arizona, explored in 1898
Courtesy of Mr. Warren K. Moorehead]
[Illustration: NAVAJO SILVERSMITH OF ARIZONA,
KOCH-NE-BI-KI-BITSILLY, CALLED “CHARLEY,” MAKING RINGS AT GRAND
CANYON, ARIZONA]
So few finger-rings of the Indian aborigines, who once inhabited the
present territory of the United States, have been brought to light,
that some authorities have been disposed to deny the existence of any
relics of this kind. Among the rare discoveries may be noted a copper
ring found in one of the Indian mounds near Chillicothe, Ross County,
Ohio. This ring has been made by bending a short copper rod until the
ends overlapped and then pounding them as closely together as possible.
It is only large enough for a child’s finger, and among the remains
of fifteen Indians found in this particular mound were those of a
child.[41] A few stone rings, presumably for wear on the finger, have
been met with in Indian graves in the Scioto Valley, Ohio, in Kentucky,
in Tennessee and also in Arizona, New Mexico and California. An
ornamental stone ring from Kentucky was evidently a finger-ring, as are
also some others of the stone rings.[42]
A shell ring from the adobe ruins near Phœnix, Arizona, in the Salado
Valley, shows the skill of the primitive Indians of this region in
ring-making. Art in shell is pronounced by Dr. Warren K. Moorehead to
be characteristic of the early Indian peoples of this valley, the shell
material, which is found in great profusion in the ruins and in the
desert, having come here either because of trade relations with the
Indians of the sea-coast, or as a result of frequent journeys by some
of the Salado peoples to the distant salt water. The discovery of shell
frogs in the so-called “City of the Dead” in this valley, by Prof.
Frank H. Cushing, some thirty years ago, was at first received with
considerable incredulity, but since then several have been unearthed by
successive explorers. Shell and bone implements with turquoise inlays
occur both in Arizona and New Mexico.[43] The shell ring we have just
noted, is unusually well formed, the projection at the upper part
having a form suggestive of a finished bezel, thus rendering the ring
a harmonious and attractive adornment for the hand. This interesting
specimen was brought to light in 1898, with a few other shell rings. An
Indian copper finger ring was unearthed, in the same year, in a grave
forming part of a cemetery at the mouth of the Wabash River, southern
Indiana. More recently, in 1912, what is believed to have been a stone
ring was taken by Doctor Moorehead from the Red Paint Indian cemetery
at Orland, Maine.[44]
The proficiency of the Navajo and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico as
silversmiths is shown by the fact that there are from fifty to
seventy-five Indians regularly occupied in this way at present, while
several hundred others are more or less familiar with the art and work
occasionally. The average pay is so much by the ounce, fifty cents
for bracelets, conchos, etc., and seventy-five cents for rings, plus
twenty-five cents for each and every setting. It has been estimated
that a Navajo silversmith, if he find steady work, may earn as much as
$125 a month. This, however, is rarely the case, as they are not fond
of overwork, and when they have earned a little sum in ten or fifteen
days, they will lay off until it is spent and they are again forced to
resume their tasks. Of the more industrious, who might be willing to
work uninterruptedly, many are quite prosperous, owning flocks of sheep
or other live stock, or else farm land, which must be attended to in
preference to the jewellery industry.
One of the best of these Indian ring-makers is Koch-Ne-Bi-Ki Bitsilly,
called Charley for short. He finds regular employment in the Grand
Canyon shop at Albuquerque, N. M., for several months in each year,
devoting the remainder of his time to the care of his sheep and other
property. He is pronounced to be above the average in intelligence,
energy and initiative. Other silversmiths are: Asidi Yashe, Charlie
Hogan, Charlie Largo, Malapai, Bigay and Hastin Nez.
Of the stones used for ring-settings, garnets are never employed except
at the special request of a trader; rarely, roughly-cut peridots
are set in rings. Turquoise from New Mexico, is the favorite stone,
although a little Persian turquoise is occasionally brought in by
the traders and set in Navajo rings. In early times the turquoise
supply came from the deposits near Cerrillos, now known as the Tiffany
Mine,[45] which furnished the material for all the turquoise ornaments
in the ruins at Chaco Canyon and elsewhere. In the manufacture of
rings these silversmiths frequently make a number at the same time,
first fashioning all the hoops, and then adding the design to the
hoops, after which the cups for the settings are added to the series.
An industrious worker will be able to finish up as many as a dozen
rings on this plan in three days, whereas, when special care is to be
exercised in making a single ring, a whole day’s work will be required.
From four to five thousand rings are made annually in New Mexico and
Arizona.
As metal working was unknown to the Navajos, as well as to the other
Indians of the Southwest before the advent of the white man, it seems
most probable that silver jewellery was not made by these Indians
until Spanish silver coins reached them. The Navajos are believed
to have acquired their knowledge of jewellery-making from the Pueblo
Indians who were the first to undertake it. Prior to this there was
massive work in copper probably due to influences from the North. The
Spanish derivation of the silver-working is proven by the old Spanish
methods used; the bellows is Spanish-Moorish. No reference either to
the making or the use of jewellery before recent times by the Navajos
is believed to exist. As an indication of the source of the silver
used, the Hopi name of this metal is _shiba_, the literal meaning
of the word being “a little round, white cake,” an apt designation of a
silver coin. In the total absence of archæological evidence as to the
Navajos, Dr. Walter Hough is decidedly of the opinion that silver work
among the tribe is of comparatively recent date. A few of the Navajo
finger-rings in the National Museum in Washington are at least old
enough to show considerable signs of wear.[46]
Among the women of the Pueblo Indians the wearing of a great number
of rings on the hand is an indication of aristocratic birth. This is
illustrated in the accompanying plate, showing a ring on every finger
of both hands; they are of silver, set with turquoise. Rings of this
type are also shown in the portrait of a Navajo maiden, a daughter of
Chee Dodge, dressed in the costume of the wife of a Navajo chief.[47]
[Illustration: DAUGHTER OF CHEE DODGE, NAVAJO INDIAN. SHE WEARS
RINGS OF SILVER SET WITH TURQUOISE]
[Illustration: SILVER RINGS SET WITH TURQUOISE MINED IN ARIZONA
AND NEW MEXICO, MADE BY THE NAVAJO INDIANS, GRAND CANYON,
ARIZONA. 1916]
As the Navajo silversmiths dwelt in small huts or temporary shelters
which they might move away from at short notice, they were forced
to build low forges directly on the ground, obliging them to crouch
down while working.[48] In this respect the Pueblo artisans had a
considerable advantage, since their spacious dwellings made it possible
for them to set their forges solidly in a frame high enough to enable
them to do their work standing. A considerable number of tools and
appliances are in the workshop of the Navajo silversmith; most of them,
however, of rude fabrication and not well adapted for fine and accurate
work. He deserves the more credit for the quality of work he is able
to produce. The following is a pretty full list of the outfit in such
a workshop: Forge, bellows, anvil, crucibles, molds, tongs, scissors,
pliers, files, awls, cold chisels, matrix and die for moulding buttons,
wooden stake, basin, charcoal, tools and materials for soldering
(blow-pipe, braid of cotton rags soaked in grease, wire, and borax),
materials for polish (sandpaper, emery-paper, powdered sandstone, sand,
ashes, and solid stone), and materials for whitening (a native mineral
substance--almogen, salt and water).[49]
It has been noted that the Navajos had not acquired the art of making
an air chamber of the mouth in operating the blow-pipe, but blew with
undistended cheeks, the result being an intermittent flame. The latter
is furnished by burning a thick braid of cotton rags soaked in mutton
suet or some other similar kind of grease. For the polishing work,
the emery paper is sparingly used because of its cost. After all the
preliminary polishing has been done with sandstone, sand or ashes, the
finishing is done with emery-paper. For the blanching of the silver the
hydrous sulphate of ammonia, termed almogen, is used, the silver being
bathed in a solution of this, with the addition of a little salt. The
blow-pipe is usually made by beating out a piece of thick brass wire
into a long flat strip, which is then bent into the requisite form.
Two of the best of these silversmiths were engaged to work for a short
time near Fort Wingate. As has been noted, their forges are commonly
set very low down, and the position of the workers was evidently
an uncomfortable one. Nevertheless, they showed a great degree of
persistence, working sometimes as many as from twelve to even fifteen
hours in a day. When paid by the piece, artisans could earn about two
dollars a day on an average. The method of chasing was excessively
primitive. While one worker held the object firmly on an anvil, the
other applied to it part of the shank of a file that had previously
been rounded, and struck this with smart taps of a hammer. Finer
figures were engraved with the sharpened part of a file, to which a
peculiar zigzag, forward motion was imparted by the hand. One fault
that could be charged against these silversmiths was a lack of economy
as to the precious material they used, no care being taken to gather
up and utilize the amount lost in filing and polishing, as well as by
oxidation in the forge, so that the net loss was estimated at fourteen
per cent.
While the art of the work produced can scarcely be termed finished,
when judged by very high standards, still the silver ornaments executed
by the Navajos possess at least the charm inherent in individual work,
as contrasted with the more harmonious and finished productions of
merely mechanical art, where thousands of objects of a given type of
design are turned out annually in a highly-organized silversmithing
establishment. With these Indians we have the “personal note” that is
too often missed in the ornaments of our day. This Navajo industry has
received much encouragement from the managers of the Santa Fé Railroad,
and from its agencies. Although the art among the Navajos is generally
believed to have been introduced by Spanish influence, the fact that
before the Spanish Conquest the native Mexicans were able to work
metals with considerable skill would make it not improbable that it
spread to the New Mexico tribes, and perhaps from them to the ancestors
of the Navajos of to-day. The Navajo Indians belong to the Athapascan
race and emigrated from the northwestern coast. Copper had been worked
into ornaments from of old by Indians of the same stock in Alaska, and
some remains indicate that this was the case, in rare instances, with
the Navajos.
The superiority of the Navajos of a later time to the Pueblos as
silversmiths, may, perhaps, result from their already acquired
knowledge of copper-working. As the Navajo men had not the occupation
of farming, as had the Pueblos, silversmithing gained favor among them
as a fad, as a means of relieving the tedium of idleness. There is
rarely any tendency to transmit this art directly from father to son,
individual preferences being the chief factors. Indeed there is so
little of the caste spirit among the Navajos that the occupation of
the father counts for but little in determining that of the son. This
is largely dependent upon the fact that descent is principally traced
through the mother. Exogamy, marrying outside the clan, is the orthodox
code of the Navajos, a man being expected to avoid taking a wife from
the clan to which his mother belonged,--a wise precaution for them.
As an early description of the lack of silversmiths’ instruments of
precision among the Navajos in planning and executing their work, Mr.
Matthews says of conditions as he observed them thirty-five years ago:
“The smiths whom I have seen working had no dividers, square, measure,
or any instrument of precision. As before stated, I have seen scissors
used as compasses, but as a rule they find approximate centres with the
eye and cut all shapes and engrave all figures by the unaided guidance
of this unreliable organ. Often they cut out their designs in paper
first and from them mark off patterns on the metal. Even in the matter
of cutting patterns they do not seem to know the simple device of
doubling the paper in order to secure lateral conformity.”
[Illustration: NAVAJO SILVERSMITHS OF NEW MEXICO, ENGAGED IN
MAKING SILVER RINGS
1, Tsozi Bigay; 2, Atziddy Yaski]
[Illustration: PABLO ABEITA, PUEBLO INDIAN, WITH HIS SON AND WIFE
The latter wears turquoise and silver rings on every finger of
each hand
Courtesy of Dr. Joseph Kossuth Dixon]
As the Navajos have no silver mines in their country, they depend
largely for their material upon Mexican silver dollars worth about 48
cents in United States money. These are melted and then molded, or
else cut and hammered into the desired forms. Sometimes, United States
half or quarter dollars are used in this way, although such silver
costs more than twice as much, because of its worth as currency. Before
silver was freely used, copper and brass were bought at the trading
posts and favored as materials; a supply of these metals being often
secured by melting down parts of the kettles or pans furnished to the
Indians by the United States Government, or else bought from white
settlers. Some old Navajo silversmiths assert that the art of working
silver was introduced from Mexico about sixty years ago, toward the
middle of the last century. About this time a Mexican silversmith named
Cassilio came to the Navajo country and taught his art to a Navajo
blacksmith called by his people Atsidi Sani, or the “Old Smith.”
Cassilio is said to have been still living about 1872. An artisan
considered to be one of the best, if not the very best of the Navajo
silversmiths of our day, who is called Beshlagai Ilini Altsosigi or the
“Slender Silversmith,” originally learned his art from Mexicans. The
fact that Lieut. James H. Simpson, who explored the heart of the Navajo
country in 1849, has nothing to say about silversmithing, although he
details very fully the various arts and industries of the Navajos, goes
far to prove the truth of the statement that Navajo silversmithing
dates from a later time.[50]
Borax is now generally used for soldering, but before it was brought
to their country, the Navajo silversmiths are said to have mined a
certain substance for this use, probably a kind of native alum. Rock
salt, an easily attainable material, called in the Navajo tongue _tse
dokozh_ (saline rock), was used for whitening tarnished or oxidized
silver. For this purpose the salt was dissolved in boiling water, into
which the silver articles were thrown and left for a time. In place
of the sandstone, sand and ashes originally used, the silversmiths
are now able to employ sandpaper or emery paper bought at the stores.
Of the tools employed we have already treated at some length. The
details in this and the preceding paragraph have been derived from
the very interesting and valuable “Ethnologic Dictionary of the
Navaho Language,” published in 1910 by the Franciscan Fathers, at St.
Michaels, Arizona.[51] Here the nouns and verbs denoting action are
grouped in the only really logical way, under the respective industries
and trades, or other forms of human activity. As some of the foremost
writers on the origin of language have urged that its beginnings are to
be sought in the various rhythmic exclamations of a body of workers,
at first uttered automatically and later used consciously as calls to
work, or to favor a coördination of efforts, no better classification
of the vocabulary of a primitive race can be employed.
The various forms and qualities of silver rings found full expression
in the Navajo language, a proof of the importance accorded to
this branch of silversmithing among them. The word for ring being
_yostsá_, we have the following designations:[52]
yostsá deshzházh, a worn down ring
yostsá geéldo, a broken ring
yostsá énidi, a new ring
yostsá quastqí, an old ring
yostsá ntqél, a broad ring
yostsá altsósi, a slender ring
yostsá ntsa, a large ring
yostsá altsisi, a small ring
yostsá náilgai, a polished ring
yostsá yijí, a blackened, oxidized ring
yostsá do-bikeeshchíni, a plain ring
yostsá bikeeshchíni, a ring with a design
yostsá alkésgiz, a twisted ring
yostsá bitsá, a ribbed ring
yostsá biná, the setting of a ring
yostsá tséso biná, a ring with a glass setting
yostsá dotlízhi biná, a ring with a turquoise setting
yostsá tlish beélya, a snake-shaped ring
[Illustration: THE ARMY AND NAVY CLUB
WASHINGTON.]
[handwritten text]
[Illustration]
[handwritten page]
[Illustration]
[handwritten page]
Rings are not in favor with the Eskimos, who do not appear to make or
wear any. Indeed, Admiral Peary found it impossible to dispose of a
lot of rings he had taken with him on one of his Arctic trips in the
belief that they would be attractive to the Eskimos, and good objects
of barter.[53] Perhaps in the intense Arctic cold even the slightest
pressure on the finger may have been avoided, lest it should impede
circulation and increase the danger of having the fingers frost-bitten.
The Mendæans of Mesopotamia are the silversmiths of this region, and
they exhibit much skill in their work. The greatest demand is for
cigarette cases and for signet rings and seals, although they make a
variety of other small ornamental objects. Their methods of work are
quite characteristic. In the case of the smaller objects, such as
rings, etc., they hammer them out from a heated silver bar. When the
general form has been attained, they work up the surface with a steel
file or pencil, which has a triangular point; with it the desired
design is laboriously engraved. This process being completed, a black
metallic powder, made into a paste, is rubbed over the entire surface,
naturally accumulating more or less, according to the greater or lesser
depths of the cuttings; the object is then placed in a charcoal forge
and fired. After it has remained therein long enough, it is removed
and the superfluous powder is rubbed or worked off. The completed ring
or other ornament then offers most beautiful contrasts between the
bright silver and the lustrous black inlay. The Mendæans are sometimes
called “Christians of St. John,” because of their great veneration
for John the Baptist. However, they in no sense deserve the name
of Christians, their peculiar, eclectic doctrine being a mixture of
ancient and Christian Gnosticism, with certain elements of the old
Persian religion. They have quite a literature, dating back to the
early centuries of our era, and written in an Aramaic dialect similar
to that of the Talmud.
THE PURPOSES OF RING WEARING
The wearing of rings as ornaments for the hand requires no explanation
in view of the innate love of adornment shown from the very earliest
periods of human history. However, apart from this merely ornamental
use, rings were applied to many special uses and were worn for many
definite purposes, some of which are so important as to merit extended
notice in separate chapters; others again are less far-reaching
and less significant, and certain of these will be explained and
illustrated here.
[Illustration: 1, Late Roman ring; 2, gold ring set with an
engraved red carnelian. Found in 1846 near Amiens, France]
[Illustration: 1, ring of gilt copper set with a ruby; 2, ring
set with irregularly-shaped sapphire
Londesborough Collection]
[Illustration: 1, Roman ring, perhaps a signet; elliptical hoop
with projecting shoulders; 2, hexagonal ring set with engraved
stone bearing figure of Hygeia, the Goddess of Health]
[Illustration: Ring that was perhaps given by a Roman lady to a
successful charioteer. Bust of donor on summit of ring
All from Fairholt’s “Rambles of an Artist”]