The Old Pawn case is the quietest corner of our gallery, and the one that holds people longest. These are vintage Navajo and Zuni pieces from the trading-post era — jewelry that was pawned at a reservation trading post and, when it went unredeemed, passed into the trade as what dealers call dead pawn. Heavy hand-worked silver, hand-cut turquoise, stamp work struck one blow at a time: these were pieces made to be worn every day for years, and most of them already have been.
