Vintage Sterling Silver Turquoise Navajo Tufa Sand Cast Naja Cross Pendant by the artisan Eugene Mitchell 32 grams

Vintage Old Pawn, Navajo sterling silver Tufa Sandcast Turquoise cross pendant. The cross is a heavy sand cast piece, set with a beautiful Arizona turquoise cabochon.

Beautiful patina to the piece, sympathetically cleaned to retain characteristics of it's age.

Dimensions of cross:
Width 2.25"
Length 3.25" (including bale)
Weight 32 grams

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Eugene Mitchell, more widely known as E.S. Mitchell (because of his hallmark), is a prolific silversmith who works almost exclusively in the technique of sandcasting. He has been active since the early 1970’s.

Unlike jewelry made with Sterling silver from a factory rolling mill, sandcast jewelry is made from poured molten silver cast in a tufa stone mold. It more closely resembles the hammered ingot jewelry of Harry Begay, but because it is not annealed multiple times like Harry's hammered ingot jewelry, it does not show as fine a grain to the silver.

Eugene produces traditional, classic sandcast pendants with the twist of having a Christian cross incorporated in the design. (Religious conversion came early to the Navajo, first from the Spanish and then a plethora of Protestant sects as well as Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists) descended on them once the U.S. reservation system was established. So, it is not uncommon to see Christian symbols mixed into the art of Navajo silverwork. Other jewelry pieces: squash blossom necklaces, buckles, bracelets and more. Eugene hallmarks his pieces ESMitchell (it is not uncommon for Eugene to fail to hallmark his pieces).

The Sandcast Jewellery Method: Sandcast Native American is a style of Navajo jewelry was first created by silversmiths sometime between 1840 and 1860. The basis of this process is a mold made by carving the desired design into a stone. Using this mold, a piece of jewelry is made (belt buckle, bracelet, ring, etc.) and becomes the "master sample" from which the subsequent sandcast pieces are made. Sandcasting evolved from casting using sandstone or tufa stone, a relatively soft stone created from compacted volcanic ash. Sandstone held up better, but the tufa was easier to carve. Sandcasting is a labor intensive, hand process not to be mistaken with centrifugal and vacuum casting processes. Artisans using this method estimate that it takes approximately three days from start to finish to make a medium sized bracelet.