Art of the American Southwest

[8][10] Turquoise, jet, and spiny oyster shell have been traditionally used by Ancestral Pueblo for jewelry, and they developed sophisticated inlay techniques centuries ago.

The Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) of the Chaco Canyon and surrounding region are believed to have prospered greatly from their production and trading of turquoise objects.

Navajos learned to weave on upright looms from Pueblos and wove blankets that were eagerly collected by Great Basin and Plains tribes in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The distinctive silver jewelry produced by the Navajo and other Southwestern Native American tribes today is a rather modern development, thought to date from c. 1880 as a result of European influences.

With a need to be self-sufficient, many Hispanic people woodworking, weaving, tinsmith, farming and leather work skills to create the furniture and furnishings for their homes.

Traditional design elements were formalized at the Studio at the Santa Fe Indian School, defining flatstyle Native American art.

[15] Following World War I, the completion of the Santa Fe Railroad enabled American settlers to travel across the west, as far as the California coast.

Images of the Southwest became a popular form of advertising, used most significantly by the Santa Fe Railroad to entice settlers to come west and enjoy the “unsullied landscapes”.

Walter Ufer, Bert Geer Phillips, E. Irving Couse, William Henry Jackson, and Georgia O'Keeffe are some of the more prolific artists of the Southwest.

Juanita Suazo Dubray, a lifelong resident of Taos Pueblo, is a Native American potter who makes micaceous pottery, upholding the tradition of her mother and their ancestors.

Dr. Joe Ben Wheat examined thousands of 19th-century textiles,[25] with the goal of establishing "a key for southwestern textiles identification based on the traits that distinguish the Pueblo, Navajo, and Spanish American blanket weaving traditions and provide a better way of identifying and dating pieces of unknown origin.” The years of research resulted in the "groundbreaking" publication of "Blanket Weavings in the Southwest".

They are a flat tapestry-woven textile produced in a fashion similar to kilims of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, but the warp is one continuous length of yarn and does not extend beyond the weaving as fringe.

[28][29] Hand-carved or naturally formed fetishes that are believed to hold spiritual forces specific to certain animals and have been commonly used in Native American religion and practices.

Each direction is represented by a "Prey God", or guardian animal each having protective or healing powers, and are listed by Cushing as follows:[citation needed] north - the mountain lion, south – the badger, east – the wolf, west – the black bear, the sky or upper – the multi-colored eagle, and the underground or lower – the black mole.

[34] 19th century dolls carved with minimum modern tools were finished with abrasive stones and polished smooth with kaolin clay and then painted with natural dyes.

Zuni kachinas are believed to live in remote northeastern Arizona and bring life by giving rain and additional support, such as promote success for hunters and farmers, combat depletion of fur-bearing animals over the 19th and 20th centuries, or influence peoples' prosperity or well-being.

[37] Kokopelli is a hunchbacked flute player who represents the spirit of music and is a Native American fertility deity, sometimes depicted with a phallus, who presides over childbirth and agriculture.

Southwest silverwork includes designs of channel inlay, cluster, mosaic, and petite point and materials of shell, gemstones and beads.

Zuni artists are admired for their cluster work jewelry, showcasing turquoise designs, as well as their elaborate, pictorial stone inlay in silver.

Tinware, likely introduced from Mexico and Spain, was used for religious adornments and household objects, such as sconces and mirrors and became increasingly popular in the mid-19th century.

[42] Santos, developed in the late 17th century, are religious icons painted on a flat board (retablos) or carved out of wood (bultos).