Turquoise in Mexico and North America

An exploration of the rich history, cultural significance, and enduring appeal of turquoise across regions and time periods. Featuring new scientific research on sourcing, mining, and distribution, the volume also delves into pre-Hispanic mosaics, Aztec symbolism, and the poetic and philosophical meanings of the stone. Contemporary jewellery arts, collecting practices, and museum perspectives offer further insight, making this richly illustrated book a compelling resource for scholars, conservators, and enthusiasts alike.

Turquoise, as a gemstone or as a decorative part of an object, has a fascinating history of discovery and use in Mexico and North America. This blue-green opaque mineral has been highly prized in antiquity and even now, its compelling colour tones and attractive textures are much sought after for quality jewellery. Like the mineral itself, this volume Turquoise in Mexico and North America: Science, Conservation, Culture and Collections is distinguished by its variety, with something of interest for every reader. New insights emerge from the latest scientific probings into the characterisation, sources, mining and distribution of turquoise. Also in this volume, studies of precious turquoise on prehispanic mosaics help to restore cultural meaning to this exquisitely crafted category of material. The significance and status of turquoise in the Aztec world is reflected in contributions that encompass poetry, thought and symbolism. Both continuity and innovation are reflected in descriptions of the turquoise jewellery arts of the American Southwest, providing fascinating comparisons with archaeological and early historical material. Different authors examine the ethos and practice of collecting, both for museums and the individual, and, in so doing, look to the past as well as to the present. This lavishly illustrated volume provides a unique perspective on the mastery of turquoise with a diverse exchange of ideas between the academic and the popular.

Introduction and acknowledgements

J.C.H. King, Max Carocci, Caroline Cartwright, Colin McEwan and Rebecca Stacey

Prologue

J.C.H. King

Science and Conservation

Mastering materials: comparative properties of raw materials on turquoise mosaics and their significance for mosaic technology

Caroline Cartwright, Rebecca Stacey and Colin McEwan

Mineralogy and manufacturing technique in a group of archaeological greenstone mosaics from Classic period Mesoamerican sites

Laura Filloy Nadal

Cracking the code of pre-Columbian turquoise trade networks and procurement strategies

Sharon Hull and Mostafa Fayek

Conservation of a turquoise mosaic disk from Tula, Mexico

Patricia Meehan and Valerie Magar

An integrated approach to understanding the selection and fate of turquoise on Mexican mosaics in the British Museum

Rebecca Stacey, Caroline Cartwright, Giovanni Verri and Colin McEwan

An alternative approach to the prehispanic turquoise trade

Alyson M. Thibodeau, John T. Chesley, Joaquin Ruiz, David J. Killick and Arthur Vokes

The turquoise disk from Offering 99 at the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan

Adrian Velazquez Castro, Maria Eugenia Marin Benito, Emiliano Ricardo Melgar Tisoc, Reyna Beatriz Solis Ciriaco and Jose Luis Ruvalcaba Sil

Culture and Collections

Turquoise in the Aztec imperial world

Frances Berdan

Mexican turquoise mosaics in Vienna

Christian Feest

The symbolism of turquoise in ancient Mesoamerica

Karl A. Taube

Teoxihuitl: turquoise in Aztec thought and poetry

Patrick Johansson K.

Turquoise and squash blossom: a Pueblo dialogue of the long run

Peter M. Whiteley

The exotica of the Settala Museum and other northern Italian collections

Antonio Aimi

A new glance at Bologna's sixteenth- and seventeenth-century museums and their Mexican items

Laura Laurencich-Minelli

Progress and evolution and changes to the practice of collecting in the mid-nineteenth century

Michael Thompson

In pursuit of the unity of the human race: Henry Christy and Mexico

Jill Cook

Henry Christy, A.W. Franks and the British Museum's turquoise mosaics

Marjorie Caygill

On the eternal and the elusive: an appreciation of the work of Johnson and Bird

Henrietta Lidchi

Shared images: continuity and innovation in turquoise jewellery

Gail Bird and Yazzie Johnson

We wear our wealth

Shane Hendren

Eighteenth-century economy, twentieth-century merchandising: the market for turquoise in the American Southwest, 1900-1940

Cheri Falkenstein-Doyle

The turquoise mines of the Cerrillo Hills Mining District, gemstone materials, and their usage: ancient and modern

Douglas Magnus

Index,

Introduction and acknowledgements

J.C.H. King, Max Carocci, Caroline Cartwright, Colin McEwan and Rebecca Stacey

Prologue

J.C.H. King

Science and Conservation

Mastering materials: comparative properties of raw materials on turquoise mosaics and their significance for mosaic technology

Caroline Cartwright, Rebecca Stacey and Colin McEwan

Mineralogy and manufacturing technique in a group of archaeological greenstone mosaics from Classic period Mesoamerican sites

Laura Filloy Nadal

Cracking the code of pre-Columbian turquoise trade networks and procurement strategies

Sharon Hull and Mostafa Fayek

Conservation of a turquoise mosaic disk from Tula, Mexico

Patricia Meehan and Valerie Magar

An integrated approach to understanding the selection and fate of turquoise on Mexican mosaics in the British Museum

Rebecca Stacey, Caroline Cartwright, Giovanni Verri and Colin McEwan

An alternative approach to the prehispanic turquoise trade

Alyson M. Thibodeau, John T. Chesley, Joaquin Ruiz, David J. Killick and Arthur Vokes

The turquoise disk from Offering 99 at the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan

Adrián Velázquez Castro, María Eugenia Marín Benito, Emiliano Ricardo Melgar Tísoc, Reyna Beatriz Solís Ciriaco and José Luis Ruvalcaba Sil

Culture and Collections

Turquoise in the Aztec imperial world

Frances Berdan

Mexican turquoise mosaics in Vienna

Christian Feest

The symbolism of turquoise in ancient Mesoamerica

Karl A. Taube

Teoxihuitl: turquoise in Aztec thought and poetry

Patrick Johansson K.

Turquoise and squash blossom: a Pueblo dialogue of the long run

Peter M. Whiteley

The exotica of the Settala Museum and other northern Italian collections

Antonio Aimi

A new glance at Bologna’s sixteenth- and seventeenth-century museums and their Mexican items

Laura Laurencich-Minelli

Progress and evolution and changes to the practice of collecting in the mid-nineteenth century

Michael Thompson

In pursuit of the unity of the human race: Henry Christy and Mexico

Jill Cook

Henry Christy, A.W. Franks and the British Museum’s turquoise mosaics

Marjorie Caygill

On the eternal and the elusive: an appreciation of the work of Johnson and Bird

Henrietta Lidchi

Shared images: continuity and innovation in turquoise jewellery

Gail Bird and Yazzie Johnson

We wear our wealth

Shane Hendren

Eighteenth-century economy, twentieth-century merchandising: the market for turquoise in the American Southwest, 1900-1940

Cheri Falkenstein-Doyle

The turquoise mines of the Cerrillo Hills Mining District, gemstone materials, and their usage: ancient and modern

Douglas Magnus

Index

• Edited by J.C.H. King
• Edited by Max Carocci
• Edited by Caroline Cartwright
• Edited by Colin McEwan
• Edited by Rebecca Stacey