Zuni Pueblo Multi-Stone Rainbow Man Pin [SOLD]

The Zuni Rainbow Man is among the most popular jewelry item for collectors. Representation of specific native religious imagery such as this was frowned upon among most pueblos, but some ceremonially significant figures were conventionalized and used for decorative purposes, probably knowingly so, because of non-Indian interest. Some of these figures had their appearances deliberately altered to avoid offending traditionalists’ spiritual sensitivities.

This Rainbow Man pin dates to the 1930s. It consists of blue and green turquoise, jet, mother of pearl, and spiny oyster shell set in stone-to-stone fashion in finely serrated bezels. Such fine bezel work is the work of an exceptionally talented jeweler. Exquisitely detailed silver rope and dots were executed for the feathers at the figure’s back.

The manner in which the stones have been cut and so tightly merged against each other demonstrates that a very talented lapidary artist was at work on this piece. The strong black of the jet, merged with the sky blue and green of the turquoise, the small amount of white mother of pearl, and accented by the spiny oyster’s orange-red color provide a palette that is not achieved in today’s jewelry as it was in the past. This is truly an exceptional work of art.

Condition: original condition

Provenance:  from the collection of a family from Illinois which purchased it in 1996 from Kania Ferrin Gallery on Canyon Road in Santa Fe

Recommended Reading:  Masterworks and Eccentricities: The Druckman Collection; Navajo and Pueblo Jewelry and Metalwork 1880-1950 by Robert Bauver