Exhibition Guide: Metals Showcase

Newer to this place than its people, the practice of silversmithing was brought to New Mexico with the Spanish. Traditions migrated north from Mexico with conquistadors, mercenaries, and Indigenous armies—yet its roots extend from the Moors of Northern Africa into Spain. The history of silversmithing is thus Islamic, Crypto-Jew, Judeo-Christian and Native all at once.

“The silver of the Spaniards was really Moorish, was it not? If not actually of Moorish make, copied from their design. The Spaniards knew nothing about working silver except as they learned it from the Moors… A learned Scotch Jesuit in Montreal told me that our first bells, and the introduction of the bell in the service all over Europe, originally came from the East. He said the Templars brought the Angelus back from Crusades, and it is really an adaptation of a Muslim custom…The Spaniards handed on their skill to the Mexicans, and the Mexicans have taught the Navajos to work with silver; but it all came from the Moors.” (Death Comes to the Archbishop, Willa Cather)

MAIDA pieces sing on your neck, fingers and ears, with the songs of bells and lands far away, stories heard and retold through hands and hearts. Designed by Maida Branch (Pueblo, Ute, Genízara (Dilia & Oga Pogeh, NM), handmade by Gino Antonio (Diné, Window Rock, AZ).

Metals are a gift from the earth, a raw material that can be manipulated, hammered, formed, oxidized and polished to become a token of love, a family heirloom, a talisman, a statement that defines the wearer and can bring any garment to life. This discovery quickly turned metalsmithing into a magical experience for me, having learned from different masters around the world, I learned that the world of metals is boundless and can offer the maker a certain kind of freedom—to mix, melt, shine and create without limits.

I frequently use bronze metal clay in my practice. Bronze metal clay consists of actual bronze particles suspended in an organic binder lending it a claylike feel, allowing it to be sculpted and manipulated like clay. Once fired, the binder burns out, the metal sinters, and the result is pure, strong bronze. Having been a ceramic artist for many years, it was a natural transition to design jewelry using bronze metal clay.