Handmade Silver Canteen By Connie Tsosie Gaussoin

Connie Tsosie-Gaussoin is a force in the world of Native American arts. Of Picuris Pueblo and Navajo descent, Connie Tsosie-Gaussoin has received numerous awards, exhibited at more than a dozen shows and museums, taught jewelry making in multiple capacities and judged different Native American art shows including Santa Fe Indian Market.

Very recently, Tsosie-Gaussoin was quoted in the New York Times, "“The pieces talk to you,” she said, “and you just have to listen to them and be very fragile with them and just decide what they want to be, not what you want them to be.”

This piece of Tsosie-Gaussoin's must've somehow indicated its desire to be a canteen, like the old handmade Navajo silver tobacco canteens. This one is created with elegant stamp work on the front culminating in a single natural turquoise stone. On the reverse is a nod to Tsosie-Gaussoin's pueblo heritage with a repeating feather design similar to one you might have seen on plates by Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo. Every bit of this canteen is created by hand from the removable lid to the links on the chain.

The silver canteen is fully functional. It's an object of art that moonlights as a piece of jewelry - just hang it from leather or a chain around your neck. You won't find another one just like it, and you won't find a whole lot of Connie Tsosie-Gaussoin's jewelry out there.

This one-of-a-kind beauty measures 3 5/8" x 2 7/8". It's signed on one side.