Vintage Stewart NYE Sterling Silver Hand Crafted Leaf Brooch Pendant.

Vintage Stewart NYE Sterling Silver Hand Crafted Leaf Brooch Pendant. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Stuart Nye arrived in Asheville in the 1920s as a patient at the Veterans Hospital in Oteen in east Asheville where he participated in craft therapy, working with his hands. In the depths of the Great Depression, he bought second-hand tools and a small bit of silver Inspired by blooms outside his window, he made his first sterling silver dogwood pin in 1933, completely by hand. Through trial and error, he fashioned silver into the leaves and flowers that grow in the southern Appalachians. Although the original work was accomplished in sterling, copper was added during the metal shortages of World War II. Both metals have remained popular and Nye’s original designs have become nationally known and loved