Hopi Sterling Silver Overlay Belt Buckle Signed Lomawywesa [SOLD]

Michael Kabotie graduated from Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1961.  While in his junior year there he was invited to spend the summer at the Southwest Indian Art Project at the University of Arizona.  Participants included Fritz Scholder, Helen Hardin, Charles Loloma and Joe Herrera.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Michael was a spokesman for an association of Hopi painters and artists called the Artist Hopid.  Other members of this group were Terrance Talaswaima, Milland Lomakema, Delbridge Honanie and Neil David, Sr.

Michael was a painter and silversmith. He was from the Second Mesa village Shungopavi at Hopi Pueblo and was the son of famed Hopi artist Fred Kabotie.

This buckle is stamped on the back with the name Lomawywesa, the Hopi name of Michael Kabotie, and the year ‘01. It is a buckle of excellent craftsmanship.  The design is quite complicated and interesting.  It appears there are dragonflies, bird tail feathers, spiral, triangles, circles and other shapes.  It was executed in the Hopi overlay style of polished sterling silver design superimposed over a black oxidized background that is scored in designs.

Condition:  very good condition.

Provenance: this Hopi Sterling Silver Overlay Belt Buckle Signed Lomawywesa is from the estate of a collection of 40 belt buckles amassed by a client from Oregon.  Other buckles from the same collection are shown below in Related Items.

Recommended Reading:  The Beauty of Hopi Jewelry by Theda and Michael Bassman