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What is the significance of a squash blossom?
As with many native cultures, wealth was often worn in the form of adornment, and in many early photographs of the Navajo and other Southwestern Native peoples, it is clear that Squash Blossom Necklaces were worn with pride and reverence for their beauty and inherent value.
How do you identify squash blossoms?
Check the base of the flower where the blossom meets the stem. Female squash blossoms have a small swollen embryonic fruit at their base, which will grow into a squash if the bee does what bees do. Male squash blossoms are showier and they tend to hang out on long skinny stalks all along the plant.
What is turquoise jewelry worth?
The price of turquoise stones normally range from $1 to $10 per carat but can range from $0.05 to $1000 per carat depending on the quality.
The squash blossom as a design concept originated with the Navajo. They were the first Southwest tribe to utilize the design of the edible gourd, an important source of sustenance. The naja is also representative of the womb; a single nugget of turquoise suspended from the pendant symbolizes a child growing within.
What is a squash blossom called?
Squash blossoms (called courgette flowers in Great Britain) are the edible flowers of Cucurbita species, particularly Cucurbita pepo, the species that produces zucchini (courgette), marrow, spaghetti squash, and many other types of squash.
How much is a squash blossom necklace worth?
Note that many handmade, authentic squash blossom necklace sets are easily worth $1,500, with individual squash blossom pendants being worth over $300. If a seller offers you a necklace for a low price, like $100, you can safely assume that the product is a counterfeit.
Often Navajo squash blossoms have old coinage on them and people tend to assume because they have these early coins dating from the 1910s or 1930s that it must be from the same timeframe as the coins are. The reality is that’s actually quite rare.
Are squash blossoms edible?
Squash blossoms, the edible flowers that grow on the plants that produce (you guessed it!) squash, are surprisingly delicious and versatile.
Why is the squash blossom the symbol of silver?
The squash blossom was borrowed from Spanish silver ornament, although Europeans knew it as a pomegranate flower. Pomegranate trees are not native to America, so the squash flower was probably the closest correlate in Native experience and, as a critical food crop, its blossom certainly was worthy of being wrought in silver.