This exquisite sterling silver sculpted butterfly pin is not signed with the name of the artisan but it appears to be an early Zuni piece perhaps from the 1940s.  The silver chain is handmade and each link in the chain is stamped with a design. It is quite possible that the butterfly was a pin at one time and has been converted to a necklace.

Read more about this necklace here.

There were cross cultural experiences and influences between the early European-American artists of Santa Fe and Taos and the local Pueblo painters.  Santa Fe artist William Penhollow Henderson, who moved to Santa Fe in 1916, had an influence on the work of Awa Tsireh in that Henderson shared his art books with Awa Tsireh and some of those books were on Japanese and other Asian arts.

It is quite likely that Awa Tsireh developed the style seen in this painting through studying Henderson's Asian art books.  The static, frontal symmetrical positioning of flat imagery outlined in black line and filled with flat bright colors has a definite Asian appearance.  The dancers are positioned facing to the front with their feet facing sideways.  Their faces are rounded and abstract, yet their clothing is pictured in the finest accurate detail.  It is this style that Awa Tsireh produced in the 1920s. This is only one style of Awa Tsireh's art.  He apparently tried styles seen in other books belonging to Henderson.

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Tsihnahjinnie was a master at depicting a realistic approach to the everyday life activities of his people. Where as Harrison Begay portrayed an idealistic approach to Navajo life, Tsihnahjinnie was recording the history of the Navajo in his paintings. He painted scenes of Sings (a ceremony), Gamblers, Dances and other events of the isolated life of the Navajo.

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Alfonso Roybal (1898-1955) Awa Tsireh was painting before 1917 while he was still 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.  Most of his work is in the Santa Fe Indian School two-dimensional style, particularly his early work and many of those were single-figure images.

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A book published in 1997 entitled "The World of Flower Blue" by Margaret Cesa provides a wonderful look into the life of Pop Chalee. Cesa states "Pop Chalee was one of the first Native American woman artists to achieve national fame, recognition and commercial success."  The author continues to explore the artist, who was born of a Swiss mother and Taos Pueblo father, in 1906.  Her father, Joe Lujan, was the brother of Tony Lujan who was the last husband of Mabel Dodge Lujan.

Merina Lujan - Pop Chalee (Blue Flower) graduated from the Santa Fe Indian School in 1937 and was a student at The Studio under the tutelage of Dorothy Dunn.  The author continues: "Her paintings, jewelry, textile designs and murals grace museums, private collections and public institutions across the county.  During her artistic life, Pop knew some of the most influential people of her times."

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This small jar was made by Maria Martinez and painted, and probably fired, by Popovi Da.  It features an Avanyu wrapped around the upper half of the jar, achieved by painting a matte border around the polished image desired.

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Fannie Nampeyo was an outstanding potter. She was one of three daughters of Nampeyo of Hano and was the last of the three to pass away. As a result, she is probably the best known of Nampeyo's daughters. Fannie was particularly adept at making fine, well balanced vessels. She seemed to be particularly outstanding at applying just the right design to fit the scale and shape of the vessel.

Read more about this Hopi Pottery here.

It is from the shape of melons that the pottery melon jar evolved.  It resembles cantaloupe with its globular shape and vertical ribs.  The melon jar seems to have developed at Santa Clara Pueblo with the most renown potters Helen Shupla and Angela Baca being the ones who specialized in making them.  Other potters followed the tradition.

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Zuni lapidary artisans are masters at cutting turquoise precisely to fit between silver bars in a mosaic style.  The shape of the pin has been noted as representing a pair of hummingbirds.  The shape is known internationally and has many names but we will stick with the Zuni name.

Read more about this pin here.

The first Zuni silversmith, Lanyad, learned his trade from the Navajo smith Adsity Chon in 1872. After that time the Zuni combined their lapidary skills with delicate silver work to develop a distinctive jewelry style.  The Zuni then specialized in setting stones into the newly discovered technique of silverwork.  This exquisite ring is comprised of individual small cuts of turquoise and jet which then were joined stone-to-stone.  The six stone-to-stone pieces were then inlayed between silver channels.  The face of the ring is flat.

Read more about this Zuni ring here.

The Zuni Rainbow Man is among the most popular jewelry item for collectors. Representations 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.

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Zuni artisan Frank Vasik was active between 1930 and 1950 or a little later.  He was married to the daughter of Leekya Deyuse, the most famous Zuni fetish carver of all times.  His jewelry is in the collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and the Heard Museum in Phoenix.

Read more about this ring here.

The bola tie has become as much of a southwestern way of dress as cowboy boots and the ten-gallon hat. In fact, it is now by legislative decree the official neckwear of the state of Arizona. Victor E. Cedarstaff, of Wickenburg, Arizona, designed and handcrafted the first bola tie in the late 1940s.

Read more about this bola tie here..

Marie Charlotte Suina was a daughter of Ada Suina.  She passed away in 2010 at the age of 46 years.  Her later storytellers are as much like those of her mom's as they could possibly be.  I assume this one is an earlier creation as it somewhat resembles the work of Ada but not as much as the later ones by Marie Charlotte.  She won an award at the 1988 Santa Fe Indian Market for one of her storyteller figurines.

Read more about this storyteller here..

This charming storyteller features an adult female holding 3 children.  The adult has her eyes closed and mouth open while telling stories to the kids.  The clutches the three in her arms to keep them from scattering. 

I have been unable to find any published information on Rufina Trujillo. In a personal conversation with Mary Trujillo of Cochiti Pueblo..


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Every artist doodles and that is what this drawing of an emaciated Indian on an even more emaciated horse suggests.  It is a drawing that Velino Shije Herrera (1902-1973) Ma Pe Wi (Oriole) probably did just for the fun of sketching, probably not with the intention of selling it, but the current owner either purchased it in the 1960s or perhaps it was a gift from the artist to the owner.  At any rate, it's a charming piece and makes one want to smile.

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David Chethlahe Paladin (1926-1984) had an incredible imagination based on the myths and legends learned during his youth.  It is not always clear what he is representing in his paintings and that is a positive statement as it leaves the interpretation to the imagination of the viewer.

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"The Mystery Storm" could be interpreted as a storm that was unexpected or unexplained or, perhaps, out of season.  What Beatien Yazz had in mind remains unknown.  The painting is powerful in presentation-the dark sky with the white lightning setting the stage for the excellent presentation of the three horses and their riders.  The horses are startled and the Indians appear to be frightened.

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One always hopes that a trove of paintings by a deceased artist is found years following the death of the artist and that is exactly what has happened here.  When José Encarnacion Peña passed away in 1979, his widow, Pat Peña, moved to Taos as it is customary for non-Native partners to depart the pueblo once the Native partner is no longer alive.  When Pat passed away a decade ago, her grandson, a Santa Fe auto mechanic, cleaned out her residence and put a group of a dozen or more paintings by Encarnacion away.  Just recently, he decided to investigate their desirability and value and contacted us for advice.

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Unquestionably the outstanding Tesuque Pueblo painter and one of the most outstanding of all the pueblo artists was Patrick Swazo Hinds. Adopted at the age of 9 by a California family, Swazo grew up off the reservation but returned every summer to Tesuque. It is this exposure to a different way of life that is probably responsible for his style of art and that, in turn, is responsible for his wide appeal and his great success as an artist.

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