Hopi Silver Overlay Bracelet [R]

Hopi overlay jewelry, as we know it today, had its beginnings in 1938 with a suggestion from Dr. Harold Colton and Mary Russell Colton of the Museum of Northern Arizona. It was their intent to have the Hopi develop a style of jewelry that would be easily recognized as Hopi. Following World War II, Hopi veterans took advantage of the G.I. Bill to learn silversmithing, and overlay became the defining style.

Overlay consists of soldering two pieces of silver one over the other. The top layer has had a design cut out of it and the bottom layer has been scored and oxidized. The contrast of the dark background beneath the silver cutouts is the key to its distinctive look.

The initials HL are stamped in conjoined fashion on the back. I have been unable to find such a hallmark in reference books.