Rating
Object Name	Purse button
Artist	Kenneth Begay (1913-1977)
Culture	Navajo
Date	c. 1960
Materials/Techniques	Silver, ironwood
Dimensions	2 1/2" x 1/8"
Credit Line	Estate of Carolann Smurthwaite
Catalog Number	NA-SW-NA-J-715
Photographer	Craig Smith
Exhibit Label	Formed of ironwood with a very simple cut-out piece of silver over it, this pin has the clean, modern, contemporary look characteristic of so much of Kenneth Begay’s work. The design echoes the simple water-like shapes that people now think of as representing rivers. As early as the 1950s, Begay was doing things that were not very Indian-looking, and yet he still had strong stylistic and technical ties to the past. Even today, his work would be defined as not very Indian-looking (Yazzie Johnson and Gail Bird, Navajo and Santo Domingo/Laguna, 2002).
Exhibit Title	Be Dazzled! Masterworks of Jewelry and Beadwork from the Heard Museum Choices and Change: American Indian Artists in the Southwest Mid-Century Modern: Native American Art in Scottsdale
Project Name	Masterworks Arts and Artists Series
Rights Management	Copyright is held by the artist, their heirs, assignees, or legatees and the Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
Digital Presentation	Image is low resolution and not suitable for reproduction. High resolution image is available with approved Request for Reproductions application.
Request for Reproductions Application	http://heard.org/pdfs/RequestForReproductionPermission.pdf

Purse button

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