Silver Bracelets and signed book at “New to the Edge” exhibit

Throughout the months of April and May, the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum will feature a display of historic silver bracelets and a book signed by famous Pueblo potter, Maria Martinez. The display will also overlap with a few upcoming Archaeology Month activities in May.

The bracelets let us reflect upon and admire the importance of silversmithing to Native American artisans during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The craft continues today, and thrives as an industry throughout the broader Four Corners region.

The five bracelets that are displayed range from a simple, stamped Navajo bracelet made from coin-rolled silver (dated to about 1890-1910) to a 1950s Hopi bracelet made from sterling silver.

The signed book is a nice nod to one of the most famous Pueblo potters (if not the most famous), Maria Martinez (neé Povika).

In the early-1900s Martinez, a Tewa artist from San Ildefonso Pueblo, developed a stunning, black, highly polished pottery type that is in high demand to this day.

The book, The Potter of San Ildefonso, written by Alice Marriott in the late 1940s, bears the signature of the tome’s subject, Maria Povika.

Both the bracelets and the book were donated to the Edge of the Cedars by Dr. David Tarver.

While the museum has plenty of material from the truly ancient history of southeastern Utah, the institution is lacking examples of Native arts and culture from the Historic and Modern periods.

Tarver’s gift helps the Edge of the Cedars give voice to modern Native society.

Come see these amazing pieces of history, and celebrate Archaeology Month, by visiting Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum, open Monday through Saturday (closed Sunday), from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

San Juan Record

49 South Main St
PO Box 879
Monticello, UT 84535

Phone: 435.587.2277
Fax: 435.587.3377
news@sjrnews.com
Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday