Vintage 1970's Navajo squash blossom

Navajo handcrafted squash blossom. Solid sterling silver wtih genunie turquoise. The squash blossom features a familar design called a "shadow box", this referes to the way the oval elements throughout have a stone set inside the mounting creating a shadow around the stone. Measuring 24" in length with a Naja measuring 3" x 3". It also has 12 blossoms. There are no earrings . It has a medium weight and easy to wear. A  perfect example of a 1970's era Navajo squash blossom

Description:

SQUASH BLOSSOM NECKLACE: While squash blossom imagery can be found in petroglyphs (rock art) that pre-date European contact in the Southwest, Dubin said the squash blossom necklace was created in the late 1870s or early 1880s after the native people of the area contacted Spanish Mexicans. The Navajo, it is believed, were the first tribe to adopt the design, but by the early 1900s, the art form had spread to neighboring tribes, including the Zuni and the Pueblo. While the entire necklace has taken its name from one type of bead, the classic squash blossom necklace has three distinct parts: the plain round beads; the round beads Naja. It is also representative of the womb, and when a squash blossom necklace features a single turquoise nugget suspended from the Naja, it is often interpreted to be symbolic of a child in the womb.