Most of the American Indian gemstone spoons were produced by the Navajo and Zuni nations of the American southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah). Many of them were produced for resale to tourists through the Fred Harvey railroad souvenir shops in the first part of the 20th century.
The majority of these spoons have turquoise insets, because:
a. turquoise is very important to the native culture and is often called the "sky stone".
b. it looks very pretty against a silver background.
c. it is relatively easily acquired and is easy to work with
d. it comes in a wide variety of different colors (many shades of blue and green) and internal designs
The middle spoon is quite cute as the green turquoise is supposed to be the beetle's body
Note that the two left spoons are the same design, but since they are hand done, there are easily identified differences. The spider web turquoise in the middle spoon is an interesting stone.
The "stamped" designs on Indian silver were primarily for the benefit of tourists, and they were made to fit the tourist image of what an indian spoon should look like. The Southwest indians did not use silver spoons for either personal or religious use.
A wonderful hand made spoon featuring an elk tooth and two arrows. I suspect that this spoon was made by a conventional silversmith in an indian style.
Modern Zuni style spoons featuring cut bands of various stones. These are made of stainless steel
A very long (11.8") mixer spoon made in a combination of the "arts and crafts" and Navajo indian style with 5 pieces of raw turquoise in the handle. I suspect that this spoon is of fairly mondern creation, but have not yet been able to trace the mark
I would appreciate help in tracing this mark
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