No, the term doesn’t refer to very fine threadwork fiber artistry. It does have one thing in common with such threadwork, though: People use “petit-point” and “needlepoint” interchangeably, albeit mistakenly. In the fiber arts, the two terms refer to slightly different types of needlework, although most laypersons (like myself) probably couldn’t tell the difference. In Indian jewelry, the more correct term is petit-point, in part no doubt because of its connotation of very fine, meticulous, detailed, and extremely tiny work.
It’s a very old style of Southwestern Indian jewelry, one specific to Zuni Pueblo, although in recent decades artisans from other tribes have taken it up. Still, the vast majority of such silverwork even today is done by Zuni silversmiths, and they are masters at the form.
The necklace shown above is a fine (in both senses of the word) and very traditional example. It’s a piece from Wings’s personal collection, probably at least a good thirty to forty years old, and possibly as much as fifty to sixty years old. It’s what’s known as a “chandelier necklace,” for its descending layers of tiny bezel-set stones arrayed in rows, a style that was quite popular in the early and middle 20th Century and has seen cyclic resurgences since.
From its description in the Other Artists: Miscellaneous Jewelry Gallery here on the site:
This finely-detailed chandelier necklace is an outstanding example of vintage Zuni petit-point inlay work. The classic design is hand-wrought in sterling silver, with slender, perfectly matched turquoise cabochons arrayed in shaped rows. A beautiful piece of iconic Zuni silverwork from the second half of the 20th Century, it’s from Wings’s private collection; artist unknown.
Sterling silver; Sleeping Beauty turquoise
$395 + shipping, handling, and insurance
This particular piece is sterling silver, but you will find some pieces, especially older ones, rendered in coin silver or so-called nickel silver. The turquoise itself is usually either Kingman or, perhaps most often, Sleeping Beauty, both from mines in Arizona. Part of their popularity when it comes to Zuni silverwork no doubt is a result of accessibility and affordability: The mines are virtually “next door,” and the stones they produce are extremely affordable. But they have another quality that unlike most other forms of turquoise, makes them ideal for this sort of precision work: solid, stable, and mostly lacking in matrix, which means that are few weak points in the stone and it is less susceptible to fracture. It also means that it is more easily cut into very, very small pieces, which can then be cabbed for gemwork. Although it’s not clear from the photo (for which you can blame me; the color variation is a combined effect of dim lighting, camera flash, and inept photographer), the stones are a perfectly clear, evenly matched sky blue, with no webbing or other inclusions visible at all.
It’s put together in an old-style manner, as well. Instead of the modern snake, rope, or commercial link chains, it’s pieced together with handwork: chain links created by hand from thin strips of sterling silver, fastened to the chandelier rows with hand-made jump rings fashioned of twisted silver wire. Creating links and jump rings by hand is a very fine art, one increasingly limited to a few artisans, and it requires a steady hand and a lot of talent to form them into matched precision pieces like those found here. Today, such work would often be done commercially, with the artist piecing together mass-produced, machine-wrought links and rings, but at Zuni, you can still find silversmiths who do it the old way.
Necklaces, however, are far from all that such smiths create. Wings’s own collection originally included rings, bracelets, other necklaces (both chandelier and other varieties), pendants, and pins. All that remains are the necklace above and one other small piece that is iconic in another way, harking back to a tradition from a much older time: It is both pendant and pin — brooch, to be specific — in one. From its description:
This vintage combination piece is an example of classic Zuni petit-point inlay work of a certain period: fine, meticulous, and very, very evenly matched, with clear blue turquoise cabochons in a finely-worked sterling silver setting. Here, the classic blossom design takes shape in the form of a combination pin and pendant, with both a pin and a tiny bail soldered onto the back. An old piece from Wings’s private collection; artist unknown.
Sterling silver; Sleeping Beauty turquoise
$120 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The price is an absolute steal, although that’s also true of the necklace. Both exhibit the sort of old-fashioned workmanship that appears so uniform, so flawless, that it’s hard to believe that they’re hand-made — and yet, a close inspection shows an accuracy and attention to detail that no machine could ever provide.
Like petit-point needlework, these pieces are symbols of an earlier time, with all the romantic notions we attach to that era — but they’re also contemporary tributes to artistry, to talent and skill, to pride in true precision work, and to a specific culture and tradition.
~ Aji
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