{"product_id":"stamped-petrified-wood-cuff","title":"Stamped Petrified Wood Cuff","description":"\u003cp\u003eA sterling silver and petrified wood cuff. This is a beautiful, early, rare and unusual open work cuff with stunning teardrop cabochon petrified wood set into the middle taking the center stage. This type of work is likely from an artisan from a Southwestern Native American tribe, and probably from the Navajo tribe, given its appearance and design.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cuff is of the classic open work design that allows the front to open up to showcase a stunning, hand selected, cut and polished gem quality fossil. Surrounding the stone are hand made rope twisted sterling wire 'S' designs, and the border of the stone also is finished with both rope and graduating silver bead designs. \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eThe cuff element is finished with crisp, traditional Southwestern stampwork:  a radiating fan or sunray motif anchors the design, giving the cuff a clean sense of direction and symmetry. There are also a couple of different designs and sizes of conchos applied to the frame of the cuff.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePetrified wood has a particularly interesting history in Native American jewellery, especially among Navajo silversmiths working in the American Southwest during the early to mid-20th century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFormed over millions of years as buried wood is gradually replaced by minerals, petrified wood retains the grain and structure of the original tree while becoming remarkably hard and stone-like. Arizona and New Mexico are particularly rich in the material, making it a natural addition to the palette of stones and minerals used by Native American jewellers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile turquoise remained the most celebrated stone in Southwestern jewellery, petrified wood became particularly fashionable during the 1930s and 1940s. Its wonderful variation of deep reds, browns, ochres, creams and blacks worked beautifully against silver and gave each piece an entirely individual character.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe material was also notoriously difficult to work. Its hardness meant that many Native American silversmiths obtained petrified wood already cut and polished into cabochons by traders or commercial lapidaries before setting the stones into their own handmade silverwork. Large examples were often given simple bezel settings surrounded by stamped decoration, silver drops or twisted wire, allowing the natural pattern of the fossilized wood to remain the focus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"gs\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\":2qj\" class=\"ii gt adO\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\":2qk\" class=\"a3s aiL\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"avWBGd-1141\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLong, darkened channels run through the band to add contrast, with the oxidised recesses sharpening the geometry and letting the handwork read from across a room. It is the kind of stamping that looks simple at first glance, then reveals how precise the layout really is.  Add to the make the beautiful patina that has now taken to the silver and the overall look of this piece of art is hard to match.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"avWBGd-1142\" data-hash=\"0\" class=\"WhmR8e\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cuff is unsigned, and is likely an earlier piece. Dating from circa 1950's, pieces like this rarely come to market. This size is very wearable. It is able to be carefully adjusted toward its end pieces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eDimensions - Height at the front 1.6. Total Length - 6.2. Opening - 1.5\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Foundwell","offers":[{"title":"1.6 \/ 6.2","offer_id":49225128214718,"sku":"FWMJ3137","price":945.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/2617\/files\/0013-1_6ffd25a1-74a1-43fc-96fe-f7cb07ac2544.jpg?v=1791167376","url":"https:\/\/foundwell.com\/products\/stamped-petrified-wood-cuff","provider":"Foundwell","version":"1.0","type":"link"}