This is an original Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Cheyenne, 1933- ) circa 1970’s sterling silver masterpiece vintage ring set with gem cut Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise and Coral ex-Denver Art Museum collection. The sterling silver ring has a domed caged like design with filigree cutouts set with stones that all have a beveled angular gem cut finish set down the center of the top, around the outside bordering the raised top and on either side of the thick sterling ring band. The ring is stamped, “Ben Nighthorse”. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (born in 1933) is an noted Cheyenne artist and politician who represented Colorado in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987-1993 and was a U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1993-2005. During his time in office, he was the only Native American serving in Congress. He serves as one of 44 members of the Council of Chiefs of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Tribe. In Herman Viola’s book, Ben Nighthorse Campbell: An American Warrior, Campbell recounts learning to make jewelry from his father and flattening silver dollars on train tracks for materials. He made jewelry under his Nighthorse name and in the 1970’s was included in a feature article in Arizona Highways magazine about Native artists experimenting in the “new look” of Indian jewelry. Provenance: The piece was created for an exhibit at the Denver Art Museum and dates to the circa 1970’s. The ring is a size 8 US and the box measurements are approx. 1 7/8”H by 1 5/8”D across the face by 1 1/8”W. Total weight of 47.2 grams.