Navajo Arts & Crafts Guild Silver Bracelet Size 6 5/8

Superbly sculpted ingot silver Navajo Arts & Crafts Guild bracelet. The sleek, austere, modern style, with minimal stamping was a signature of the Guild practices. 1940s-50s. Hallmarked with the 'horned sun'.
Length inside end to end: 5 1/2"
Gap between ends:1 1/8"
Width: 5/8"
The foundation for an arts and crafts guild for the Navajo tribe was laid in 1939 when a crafts program was established at Fort Wingate, New Mexico with assistance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild was officially organized in September 1941 at Fort Wingate, NM. In 1942, the Guild started a cooperative location at Pine Springs, AZ, and other locations were opened in New Mexico at Window Rock, Toadlena, and Shiprock. Ambrose Roanhorse, Chester Yellowhair and Fred Peshlakai helped form the Guild to provide a base from which students graduating from the silversmith classes at the Indian Schools could practice their newly acquired skills in the marketplace. Ambrose Roanhorse became the first Director of the Guild.
"The purpose of the guild is to increase the tribal income from the sale of arts and crafts by promotion of fine handicrafts which will sell in quality stores in the East, Middle West, and Southwest. The tourist market is purposely avoided, as it does not yield as high a return per man hour as the more exclusive stores and shops. The type of silverware that the guild promotes is similar to that which has been at the Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Fort Wingate Indian schools; a revival of the old simple types of jewelry, without sets for the most part..." -John Adair (Two of the several “quality stores” who purchased from the Navajo Guild in 1947 were Marshall Field’s and Tiffany’s.)