Description
6" Jennifer Curtis Navajo Twisted sterling bracelet 4.5mm<br><br>Jennifer Curtis, the most respected woman Navajo silversmith working today in a<br>traditional yet innovative style, is known for her stamp and file designs with<br>heavy-gauge sterling silver.<br><br>On her process for heavy bracelets, Jennifer says:<br><br>“I lay out the design on square wire while it’s still flat, stamp where I need<br>and chisel the lines on all sides. I bend the thick silver wire on metal shaft<br>by hand. Than I file the design with regular rectangular metal file, which is<br>hours of labor. Before the final buffing and polish, you can see all the file<br>marks.”<br><br>Growing up on the Navajo reservation near Winslow, Arizona, Jennifer learned her<br>craft from her father, Thomas Curtis, Sr., himself an award-winning silversmith,<br>beginning at eight years old. She began to work on her own after graduating high<br>school. In an interview with Shiprock Santa Fe, she notes: “My work is an<br>extension of my history, my family. My biggest influence is my master, my<br>teacher, my father. His recent passing has brought special meaning to each swing<br>of the hammer, each design I create. My family is the center of my existence; I<br>make work that is balanced and proportionate always with a physical center that<br>mirrors the spiritual.”<br><br>Jennifer has won many first place prizes at the Santa Fe Indian Market.<br>All precious metals are tested and guaranteed, any Native American jewelry<br>referred to as Silver or Sterling is guaranteed to be a minimum of 90% (coin)<br>silver and possibly higher content. Most cuff bracelets are shown photographed<br>on a 6" woman's wrist and will include a photo showing the inside circumference<br>where the metal tip meets the number on the tape measure.
