Millicent Rogers

Museum

       Millicent Rogers Jewelry Collection

A Testament to Diversity:  The Millicent Rogers Collection of Southwestern Jewelry

A testament to Diversity features nearly 1,000 pieces of stunning Native American jewelry largely collected by Millicent Rogers.  Exhibit funded in part by the Henry Luce Foundation, New Mexico Arts, and the Board of Trustees, and Private Donations.

JEWELRY The Collection: The core of the Millicent Rogers Museum collection of historic jewelry was collected by Millicent Rogers herself during her years in New Mexico. The more than 1,200 pieces that comprise the collection represent jewelry traditions of the Southwest, including Native American and Hispanic. More about Pueblo and Navajo Jewelry

Two-Strand Tab Necklace, Zuni Among Millicent Rogers' many delights were her collecting trips to the Navajo Reservation, to native art and craft fairs, to the Pueblos of the Rio Grande Valley and beyond. This necklace was purchased on a trip to the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial in 1947 by Millicent Rogers and her good friend, John Joseph, a founding Trustee of the Museum. All of the Pueblo groups, which include Zuni, Hopi, and Rio Grande people, have used strings of turquoise and white shell beads, called heishi, for ornamentation. Traditionally, turquoise has held a paramount place in Zuni religion and mythology.

Silversmithing Silversmithing was introduced to the Navajo people in the early 19th century by a Mexican silversmith who taught the craft to Atsidi Chon. By the mid-19th century, Chon had mastered the art and introduced it to Lanyade, a Zuni friend. Prior to this time at the Zuni Pueblo, copper and brass were the only metals crafted, with incising and filing as the only design techniques. Chon introduced the technique of stamping with designs based on Mexican leather craft. Because of this cross-cultural relationship, it is nearly impossible to tell the difference between early Navajo and Zuni silver jewelry. Early pieces include open-centered conchas, beads, buttons, and bowguards. By 1910 with increased availability of smaller turquoise stones and improved lapidary tools, the whole design of Zuni jewelry was oriented toward cluster and channel work, mosaics, and the display of gems.

Zuni bracelets, Navajo, c. 1940 Two-strand Tab Necklace, Zuni, Leekya Deyuse, c. 1940, MRM 1958-6-1 Concha belts, 2nd and 3rd phase, Navajo, c. 1900-1930 [ top of page ]