Authentic
Native American Jewelry | |||||||||||
Accent bands of red brass on top and bottom.
| Wilford
Begay, Navajo $473 plus s/h | ||||||||||
Paula says - "This miniature sterling silver wedding vase is decorated with traditional hand stamping and has red brass accents. The background portions of the overlay has been oxidized for contrast. A very special wedding or anniversary gift."
The background portions of the sterling silver overlay has been oxidized to make it black for contrast.
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What is a Wedding Vase?The Native American wedding vase is used to sanctify a marriage. The two spouts represent the separate lives of the bride and groom. The handle between them represents the joining of the husband and wife on their wedding day. Prior to the wedding, the vase is filled with a liquid that represents the union of the bride and groom. It could be holy water, tea, or brew created by a medicine man. On the wedding day, the groom offers the vase to his wife, and she takes a sip from it. The bride then turns the vase and offers it to the groom so that he can sip out of it. This ceremony is equivalent to the exchanging of wedding bands. In some tribes, if the bride and groom are able to both sip out of the vase at the same time without spilling any liquid, they are destined for a long and happy life together. |
About Silver100% solid silver won't tarnish but it is too soft to use for making jewelry - it could easily be scratched, dented and bent. Sterling silver has a small amount of one or more other metals usually copper, added to the silver. To be called sterling silver, the alloy must contain at least 92.5% pure silver. Sterling silver alloy is harder than pure silver but the added metals also can cause discoloration or tarnish. |
WHAT IS BRASS?Brass is an alloy made by melting copper, zinc and sometimes other metals together. The main difference between red brass and yellow brass is the amount of copper used. Red brass closely resembles the reddish color of copper because it contains a larger percentage of the metal, up to 95 percent, while yellow brass generally has more zinc and less than 70 percent copper. Brass alloys may also contain small amounts of iron, lead, manganese, nickel, and/or tin. |
About
Wilford Begay