Stanley Parker's elegant and exacting sterling silver creations distinguish him as as one of the leading smiths specializing in traditional Navajo style. As illustrated in the piece above, he very often utilizes repousse, a technique in which a metal is shaped by hammering or stamping from the reverse side to create a design in low relief. He is always meticulous in his selection of stones and as is the case shown above, he frequently sets natural Royston turquoise in his work. His handmade chains add additional heritage charm.
Stanley is one of my favorite Navajo artisans. A few years ago I penned a blog about him. He and I once had an interesting exchange in which we shared our mutual concerns about the many talented Navajo silversmiths who work with nickle silver only because they cannot afford to buy silver. Unfortunately, the market for markedly cheaper nickle based silver is very limited, but the work to create is similarly intense and time consuming.
