This bracelet appears to have been fashioned from ingot silver.  It is stamped Sterling and with the name NORA, a name not found in any reference books relating to silversmithing.  The design has the appearance of Hopi silver overlay work, but it is of Navajo origin.

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This wide silver band has raised diamond-shape protrusions running across the middle of the bracelet from end to end.  They were punched outward from the back of the bracelet.  The remaining designs were stamped from the front of the Wide Silver Band with Pyramidal Design bracelet.  The name LEO is stamped on the back.  The artisan has not been identified.

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This black-on-red Hopi Large Humpback Pottery Canteen is of the same shape as those seen in kivas a century ago, but it is beautifully decorated.  The upper half is decorated and the lower half is not.  There are two loop handles and a spout just below the decorated section.  The spout has a slight upturn in shape.  The bottom of the canteen is rounded, not flat, most likely to facilitate embedding it into the dirt floor. 

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It is not uncommon for dealers and traders to be asked if a certain design on pottery or textiles has a meaning.  Often, the answer is one of restraint as it is probable that designs were given meaning by early traders to add mysticism and intrigue, and those designs may or may not have had any meaning to the artisan.  It is quite likely that some designs do have meaning but, if so, those meanings remain as secrets to the members of the tribe as they are not indiscriminately divulged to those outside the tribe.

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This Navajo - Diné Sterling Silver Concha/Concho Belt consists of 8 oval Conchas/Conchos, 9 rectangular butterflies, and an oval buckle all strung on a black leather belt that is ¾-inch wide.  Each Concha/Concho is domed with a raised diamond shape at the center and stamping around the perimeter and with scalloped edges with stamping.  Each butterfly has repoussé rays radiating out from a raised center oval that is surrounded by minute stamping.  The buckle is similar in design to the Conchas/Conchos but slightly larger and with slightly different stamping.

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There is very little information published on Geronima Gachupin Medina (1892-1972) Ts'aadawei' other than she was born circa 1882 and began to be an active potter around 1910.  She was the wife of José Medina (1893-1970) and the mother of Eralia and Rosita Medina.  Her sisters were Trinidad Gachupin Medina and Reyes Gachupin Moquino/Pino.  The Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, OK has one of her pots collected in 1939.  It is pictured in Figure 14.44 in The Pottery of Zia Pueblo by Harlow and Lanman.  It is an unsigned jar but was most likely purchased from the potter.

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Olaf Wieghorst (1899-1988) wandered extensively through the West, sometimes on horseback, finding work in Arizona and New Mexico as a cowboy. Then he went to New York and served as a mounted policeman until 1944, spending most of his time patrolling the Central Park bridle paths and saving many people injury from runaway horses. He began painting in his spare time, and was successful enough that his work was represented by the Grand Central Art Galleries of the Biltmore Hotel.

In 1944, he settled in El Cajon, California. His paintings include cowboys, horses, and Indians in landscape, but there is little if any collectible art of his from his early days in the West. His primary output came after his return to California when he began painting cowboys and horses extensively. He did numerous horse portraits, spending time on ranches studying their unique personalities. He painted celebrity horses including Roy Rogers' Trigger, Gene Autry's Champion and Tom Morgan's stallion.

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Popovi Da (Red Fox) is the son of famous San Ildefonso potter Maria Martinez and her artist husband Julian Martinez. He was born on April 10, 1923 at San Ildefonso Pueblo and died on October 17, 1971 in Santa Fe. He formally and legally changed his name from Tony Martinez to his Tewa name, Popovi Da. He was educated at the Santa Fe Indian School, where he graduated in 1939. Da was a veteran of the U.S. Army and served in World War II. He lived most of his life in San Ildefonso Pueblo.

Da listed his varied occupations as arts and crafts shop owner, Governor of San Ildefonso Pueblo, ceramics painter and designer, silversmith and painter. He was elected Governor of San Ildefonso Pueblo in 1952, and was Chairman of the All-Indian Pueblo Council.

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José Disiderio (J.D.) Roybal [1922-1978] Oquwa - Rain God is best known for his portrayal of the Koshari or Koosa Clowns.  His paintings present traditional pueblo ceremonies and legends in a realistic and symbolic manner, often with added touches of humor.  In this painting, Koosa Clowns are cavorting with Avanyu, who are wrapped around a rainbow. The Avanyu are offering blessings to the Koosa.

The Koosa Clowns on the rainbow and those below suggests much joviality in their actions and facial expressions.  The female figure in the center of the painting has the appearance of a Katsina, however, I do not know the explanation for her. The painting is circa 1950s.

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Gilbert Atencio has certainly been recognized as one of the finest Native American artists of the 20th century.  He painted mostly in his spare time after a full day of work as a medical illustrator at Los Alamos National Labs, near the pueblo reservation.  He worked a full career and retired around 1990.

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This is a superlative Original Painting of a Single Antelope Dancer by Julian Martinez, one of the premier pueblo painters of the early 20th century. This fantastic, evocative, and subtly beautiful image depicts an Antelope Dancer in profile, and is executed in gouache on paper. The figure was created in contour with pencil and then wonderfully realized in opaque pigment, with all the traditional accoutrements of the dancer. The prominent headdress frames the coal-black face of the dancer, with feathered embellishments falling to the rear, over the dancer's back and neck. A hand-woven cotton sash secures the oversize shirt, with a fine polychrome dance kilt, embellished yarn/trade bell garters, feathered dance wands, and embellished moccasins completing the ensemble. 

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The nephew of famed San Ildefonso potter Maria Martinez, Gilbert Atencio (Wah Peen) was born in 1930. He was one of the youngest San Ildefonso painters. A student at the Santa Fe Indian School, Atencio had already had a museum show by age twenty and had garnered many awards for his work before that.

This painting of three participants in a San Ildefonso Harvest Dance was painted by Atencio when he was 18 years of age, probably still in school at the time.  It is dated 1948.  The preciseness for which he was to become famous later in his art career is already evident in this early painting.  The faces of the three are beautifully detailed.

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Romando Vigil (1902-1978) Tse Ye Mu - Falling Cloud was one of the San Ildefonso self-taught artists in the early part of the 20th century. He was a leader within the San Ildefonso Watercolor Movement, a movement that caught fire during 1915 to 1917. It fostered an art form unmatched in the cultural history of the world. These men portrayed tribal culture and local wildlife, attaining a flat decorative character absent of backgrounds and foregrounds and free of traditional perspective, with an unerring color sense. Their success in these presentations was due to their understanding of the ceremonies they painted. They understood the meanings of the symbolism, because they had participated in these ceremonies since childhood. 

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There was a time, 20 years ago, or so, when everyone was welcome to visit the Hopi Reservation and witness the Snake Dance that was celebrated every two years.  Now, the Snake Dance is closed to all but Native Americans.  Many Pueblo and Navajo visit Hopi during Snake Dance season so it is not unusual to see a Pueblo artist paint a Snake Dancer.

Abel Sanchez (1899-1971) Oqwa Pi - Kachina Stick probably visited Hopi during Snake Dance many years ago, and painted this image from memory of the visit.  It is quite likely that this was painted in the 1920s as it was painted on brown wrapping paper rather than artist paper that he is known to have used later in his career.

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Tonita Peña was born at San Ildefonso Pueblo in 1893 and lived there with her parents until her mother passed away around 1905 when Tonita was 12 years old.  Unable to tend his fields and raise a young daughter, her father sent Tonita to Cochiti Pueblo to live with her aunt and uncle.  Tonita spoke Tewa, the language of San Ildefonso, and had to learn Keres, the language of Cochiti Pueblo.  Having lost her mother, and essentially lost her father, and having to learn a new language and fit a society of which she was unfamiliar must have been traumatic for a young girl.

Tonita painted scenes of San Ildefonso ceremonial life as she remembered it and became a very famous painter.  She is considered the very first pueblo female painter who succeeded in the male-dominated field of art.  She was accepted by the men as an equal, although that probably took some time before it happened.  She has also always been recognized as a painter from San Ildefonso, because that was her family home.  She is never listed as an artist from Cochiti.

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The nephew of famed San Ildefonso potter Maria Martinez, Gilbert Atencio (Wah Peen) was born in 1930. He was one of the youngest San Ildefonso painters. A student at the Santa Fe Indian School, Atencio had already had a museum show by age twenty and had garnered many awards for his work before that.

Atencio favored painting clowns and using vivid color. As he got older his attention to detail became nothing short of remarkable. He was one of the first Southwest Native artists to paint a portrait of people-his aunt and uncle, in fact-Julian and Maria Martinez. It wasn't until the 1960s that portraits became more commonplace. His later works became somewhat abstract.

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Alfonso Roybal (1898-1955) Awa Tsireh was painting before 1917, while he was still just a teenager. He was the oldest of the early group of pueblo painters. His formal education had not extended beyond primary grades. He was versatile in his styles of painting in that he was equally comfortable with representational or semi-realistic. The majority of his early work is in the Santa Fe Indian School two-dimensional style.  Most of these flat-style pieces depict single figures.

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Tonita Vigil Peña (1893-1949) Quah Ah did not have an easy life.  She lost her mother and sister when she was 12 years old and then her dad sent her from San Ildefonso, her native pueblo, to live with an aunt and uncle at Cochiti Pueblo, so she essentially lost her father at that time as well.  She had to learn new customs, dances, songs and even a new language-Keres was spoken at Cochiti, rather than her native Tewa Language.

In 1908-at just 15 years old- Peña married Juan Rosario Chavez, who was 20 years old.  Chavez passed away three years after their marriage.  She married Felipe Herrera in 1913.  He died in a work accident in 1920.  Her third husband, Epitacio Arquero, outlived Tonita by a few years.  They had a loving marriage and produced five children.

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Gilbert Atencio attended the Santa Fe Indian School, graduating in 1947.  His profession was as a medical illustrator at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is located close to the San Ildefonso Pueblo Reservation.   His strong sense of family and tribal responsibility resulted in his seldom venturing from his native pueblo.  The artist believed in the traditional Indian ways and his favorite subjects were ceremonies, ceremonial figures, and scenes from pueblo life.  Much of his inspiration came from stories his aunts told him about their lives. 

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The Chief Blanket underwent several changes over the decades from 1800, among those was adding red bayeta yarn and, later, adding a total of nine triangular elements at the corners and mid part of the textile.  Those changes resulted in Second Phase and Third Phase designations.

The Chief Blanket has never gone out of production.  Changes were made in the early 20th century, but the appearance did not change enough to prevent use of the term, Third Phase Blanket or Rug.

This textile, a Third Phase version, is too large for a wearing blanket.  It was made as a floor rug.  It dates to circa 1920s.  The use of orange in the textile helps set the date.  The Navajo Third Phase Chief Pattern Rug is probably the most widely collected of 20th-century Navajo weavings today.  The pattern, the name, the inference, all contribute to its desirability by collectors, decorators and enthusiasts.

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