J263 Al Nez
Salad servers made exclusively for Shades of the West by Navajo silversmith Al Nez. The spoon and fork have tufa cast handles with an intricate pattern, and each is 9.5” long. Tufa cast serving sets are a rarity in Navajo silverwork.
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Tufa casting is a technique of pouring molten silver into a tufa stone mold and letting it harden into a given form.
Al Nez, who died in 2007, was one of Shades of the West‘s silversmiths in the 1970’s. He was born in 1959 and was an active silversmith since the early 1970’s. He comes from a family of silversmiths; his brothers are Kee Nez and Gibson Nez.
About the artist
Al Nez
Al Nez is an award-winning jeweler who draws inspiration from the rich heritage of his Navajo tradition. Born in 1959, Al is a member of the Many Goats Clan, whose father was of the Bitterwater Clan. Al was inspired at a young age by his talented grandfather and began to learn the craft of silversmithing. Over the years he has developed a contemporary style drawing from traditional Navajo symbols and now works primarily in 14K gold combined with sterling silver. And set with a variety of gemstones, including natural turquoise, coral, lapis, and sugalite.
Al has garnered numerous awards at the Annual Intertribal Ceremonial in Gallup, New Mexico including “Best of Tufa Casting” as well as “Best of Miniatures” at the Indian Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His work is also part of the permanent collection of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, which is part of the U.S Department of Interior. Al has been featured in Arizona Highways and his work appears in several authoritative books on Native American jewelry including Beyond Traditions, Enduring Traditions, Navajo Jewelry and Southwest Indian Art.
“I learned the basics of working with metal at school,” says Nez, “but essentially, I am self-taught. I like to experiment with metal-melt it down and bend it every which way.” Nez uses the tedious tufa-cast method, which involves carving his designs in relief on sandstone and then pouring the molten silver into the sandstone mold. Because the molds are fragile, only one piece results from each cast. “My grandfather was a silversmith. I am a jeweler. Unfortunately his tools were sold before I was born. I probably could have learned a lot from him. That would have been something. Al lives and creates his designs on the Navajo Reservation in Northern Arizona.
