Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Native Art


Just wanted to share a bit of history about the Grandmother Fetish Necklace. The one shown here is a piece by the Quandelacy Family of artists from Zuni Pueblo,NM. The fetish necklace is called Grandmother because the first one made by the Quandelacy family was a gift for Ellen Quandelacy,the head of the family. Many members of the family including Faye,Georgia,Albenita,Andres and Brian,have carved the animals and brought them to Faye to make this beautiful necklace. The center pendent is a Turquoise Corn Maiden on one side and a Grandmother "the wise elder" on the opposite side. There is a Jet bear inlaid with a sunface design.A shell turtle with very fine details,a smaller corn maiden with exquisite carving in such a small piece,the turquoise mountain lion has a coral heart line and eyes highly polished. The Mother of Pearl Eagle is beautiful in its lines carved on its wings. You can even feel each kernel on the piece of corn. Some of the stones used are Spiny oyster shell,Jet,Turquoise.

At http://www.agalleryofnations.com/Necklaces_.html Is another wonderful Fetish Necklace carved by Lena Boone one of Zuni Pueblo's premier artists. This necklace is of Fossilized Walrus Ivory and has 21 carved animals. Look close at the Hummingbirds. Lena is very proud of these. As Lena has said it takes a skilled and steady hand and patience because many times the stones being carved just break its such a small piece to work on. The animals are strung on very dark rich red coral beads, a nice contrast to the Ivory.

Come by and visit and see more examples of beautiful Jewelry by Zuni Artists at