The Timelessness of Turquoise
Turquoise is timeless. A fashion staple for over 3,000 years, and found on six continents, turquoise is ingrained in our human history. Not only does turquoise resemble water in appearance, it needs water to form.
While the peoples of Africa and Asia are no strangers to turquoise jewelry, this stone that ranges from green to blue is an iconic part of Native American art and culture and symbolizes the Southwest, where we are home to many famed mines. Some of our most iconic stones include Kingman Turquoise, known for its bright blue tone and characteristic veining, along with the vividly blue Sleeping Beauty stones, and a handful of rare stones from now-closed mines including Lone Mountain, Number 8, and New Mexico’s very own Cerrillos mine. The icy-blue Larimar is one of the most rare and highly sought after turquoise stones in the world and comes from the remote Barahona region in the Dominican Republic.
Rich in turquoise, China has mined it for 2,000 years and now accounts for over 60% of stones used today. Some of the finest stones originated in this beautiful country, including the deep blue-green Cloud Mountain Turquoise with its dramatic black matrix.
The ancient Egyptians and the Chinese, whose homeland is a major source of turquoise, have used the stone in their art and jewelry for centuries. The oldest discovery of mined turquoise were beads found in Iraq, dating back to 5000 BCE. The gemstone was also found in jewelry in Egyptian tombs, dating back to 3000 BCE, as was used in King Tut’s burial mask. It was even used to decorate the Taj Mahal, while ancient Persians wore it as protection against unnatural death. The Aztecs inlaid it in skulls, statues, and shields.
Turquoise is more than just a beautiful blue gem. Although turquoise is associated closely with Native Americans, the gem has a universal appeal.
From the Library: Pogue, The Turquois (1915)
1915 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1915, not today.
Writing in 1915, Pogue quoted the gem writer de Boot on turquoise in European dress:
“De Boot, writing in 1609, remarked that the turquois possesses such authority that no one feels satisfied with his dress if he can not wear a fine one.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 85
Pogue (1915) also cited Samuel Pepys's Diary of 1667-68:
“She shows me her ring of a Turkey-stone, set with little sparks of dyamonds.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 86
On the market of his own day, Pogue wrote in 1915:
“At present (1914) it is in demand and many fine specimens are to be seen on the London and Paris markets.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 87
Pogue (1915, p. 82) reported that the earliest Chinese records of turquoise mining then known dated to 1290 in Yunnan and 1366 in Hubei.
Writing in 1915, Pogue opened his chapter on turquoise folklore:
“The turquois is peculiarly rich in its list of reputed achievements and in this respect is exceeded by few gems.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 110
The belief about protection from a violent death appears in the thirteenth-century Arabian mineralogist Teifascite, who, as Pogue (1915) quoted him, said the Kings of Damascus wore turquoise
“because, among the great, the stone possesses the property of removing from its wearer the danger of being killed, and is therefore never to be seen on the hands of a person killed.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 111
On turquoise as a birthstone, Pogue (1915) noted:
“The Poles and Russians have long held the turquois to be the natal stone for December.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 118
Pogue added, as of 1915:
“The turquois is shown in some modern lists as the birthstone for June and July.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 118
And of weddings, Pogue (1915) wrote:
“In Russia the turquois not uncommonly adorns the wedding ring.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 115
From the Library: Hodge, Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Part 2 (1910)
1910 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1910, not today.
On what the stone is, the Handbook (Hodge, ed., 1910) followed the mineralogists of its day:
“Turquoise is one of the most beautiful of the green gem stones, and, according to Clark and Diller, is a hydrous aluminum sulphate colored by a copper phosphate, containing also a little iron and magnesia.”
— Hodge (1910), p. 840 [2]
And on where it forms, Hodge (ed., 1910) wrote:
“It displays a wide range of pale bluish and greenish tints, and occurs in thin seams or in pockets associated with eruptive rocks, or as grains and pebbles in the sands and gravels of the valleys.”
— Hodge (1910), p. 840 [2]
From the Library: Hodge, Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Part 1 (1907)
1907 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1907, not today.
As of 1907, Hodge (ed., 1907) recorded of Hopi dress:
“Bracelets, necklaces of shell, turquoise, or silver, and earrings, are commonly worn.”
— Hodge (1907), p. 565 [3]
Of Hopi women and girls, Hodge (ed., 1907) added:
“The ear-pendants of the women and girls consist of small wooden disks, ornamented with turquoise mosaic on one side.”
— Hodge (1907), p. 565 [3]
W. H. Holmes, writing in Hodge (ed., 1907, p. 866), reported that turquoise was found in several Western states but, so far as was then known, had been mined extensively at only two points: Los Cerrillos, near Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Turquoise Mountain in Cochise County, Arizona. [3]
Holmes went on, in Hodge (ed., 1907):
“These mines were operated by the natives before the arrival of the Spanish, as is indicated by the pittings and rude stone mining tools found associated with them. The mines were operated also by the Spaniards, and in more recent years in a desultory way by the present inhabitants of the region.”
— Hodge (1907), p. 866 [3]
W. H. Holmes, writing in Hodge (ed., 1907, p. 947), recorded that Hopi women of his day wore pendants made of small square or oblong wooden tablets set with turquoise mosaic in black piñon gum. [3]
Field Notes by Mateo James
Our page says China has mined turquoise for 2,000 years. Pogue, following Berthold Laufer's 1913 research, wrote in 1915 that the Chinese did not know turquoise before the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The Lowrys' Turquoise: The World Story goes further than our page, saying Chinese craftspeople were inlaying turquoise even before the Bronze Age. The three accounts do not agree, and I note that here rather than settle it.
The Handbook (Hodge, ed., 1910, p. 840), following Clark and Diller, called turquoise a hydrous aluminum sulphate colored by a copper phosphate. Pogue (1915, p. 7), writing five years later, called it a phosphate of aluminum carrying small quantities of copper and iron. The two books don't agree on what the stone is made of, so I've left both on the page.
Sources
- Pogue, Joseph E. The Turquois: A Study of Its History, Mineralogy, Geology, Ethnology, Archaeology, Mythology, Folklore, and Technology. Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. XII, Part II, Third Memoir. Washington, 1915. Public domain. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1915.
- Hodge, Frederick Webb, ed. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Part 2 (N–Z). Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1910. Public domain (U.S. government publication). Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1910.
- Hodge, Frederick Webb, ed. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Part 1 (A–M). Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907. Public domain (U.S. government publication). Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1907.
