Navajo Sandcast Bracelet - Silver, Turquoise - Old Pawn - Ketoh, C. 1920
Item History & Price
Up for consideration is a fin old Ketoh arm guard from the 1920's. It was made in the sand cast method. Originally the main purpose was to protect the inside forearm from the burning snap of a bow when shooting arrows. It was an early type of wearable jewelry by older men of the Navajo men. This wasn't a tourist piece. This was meant for the older Navajo men. The sand casting is fine and beautiful. The turquoise is a hard blue stone, The top of the stone is slightly chipped but only mi...nor (look at photos)the piece of chipped piece is still there. This is an old used piece and had some wear. The turquoise is a very good blue and very hard. Hard stones don't change to green as older softer turquoise stones do. The hardness of the stone prevents the color change. A lot of the old green turquoise was green because of cutting sheep wool and the stones were in contact with the lanoline of the sheep's wool. Thus the lanoline saturated the softer stone and turned it a beautiful green. This Ketoh didn't come in contact with sheep's wool. Thus the very hard turquoise didn't do the color change..Ketohs were the descendants of the warriors and hunters, A man wore these to denote they had been hunters with a bow and arrow or their father or grandfather. This type of ketoh is very rare. A museum piece or handsome to wear. Old Pawn.
