Tag: Hopi jewelry

Published Works of Barton Wright

(Compiled to the best of our ability, and likely incomplete)

Books

1962 – This is a Hopi Kachina, with Evelyn Roat. Flagstaff: Museum of Northern Arizona.

1973 – Kachinas: A Hopi Artist’s Documentary, illustrated by Cliff Bahnimptewa. Flagstaff: Northland Press, and Phoenix: Heard Museum.

1974 – Nampeyo, Hopi Potter: Her Artistry and Her Legacy, exhibition catalog. Fullerton: Muckenthaler Cultural Center.

1975 – Kachinas: The Barry Goldwater Collection at the Heard Museum, with Barry Goldwater and photographs by Jerry Jacka. Phoenix: W. A. Krueger Company and Heard Museum.

1975 – The Unchanging Hopi: An Artist’s Interpretation In Scratchboard Drawings And Text. Flagstaff: Northland Press.

1976 – Pueblo Shields from the Fred Harvey Fine Arts Collection. Flagstaff: Northland Press.

1977 – Hopi Kachinas: The Complete Guide to Collecting Kachina Dolls. Flagstaff: Northland Publishing.

1979 – Hopi Material Culture: Artifacts Gathered by H. R. Voth in the Fred Harvey Collection. Flagstaff: Northland Press and Phoenix: Heard Museum.

1982 – Year of the Hopi: Paintings and Photographs By Joseph Mora, 1904-1906, with Tyrone Stewart, Frederick Dockstader. New York: Rizzoli International Publications.

1986 – The Hopi Photographs: Kate Cory, 1905-1912, with Marnie Gaede & Marc Gaede. La Canada: Chaco Press.

1986 – Kachinas of the Zuni. Flagstaff: Northland Press.

1988 – Patterns and Sources of Zuni Kachinas, with Bill Harmsen and Clara Lee Tanner, illustrated by Reese Koontz. Denver: The Harmsen Publishing Company.

1988 – The Mythic World Of The Zuni, Frank Hamilton Cushing, edited and illustrated by Barton Wright. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

1989 – Hallmarks of the Southwest, in cooperation with the Indian Arts and Crafts Association. Atglen: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

1991 – Kachinas: A Hopi Artist’s Documentary, illustrated by Cliff Bahnimptewa. Flagstaff, Northland Publishing, reprint of first published in 1973.

1994 – Kachina: poupees rituelles des Indiens Hopi et Zuni, exhibition catalog, 30 juin-2 octobre 1994, with Marie-Elizabeth Laniel-Le François, and others. Marseille: Musées de Marseille.

1994 – Clowns of the Hopi: Tradition Keepers and Delight Makers, photographs by Jerry Jacka. Flagstaff: Northland Publishing.

1994 – Enduring Traditions: Art of the Navajo, with Lois Essary Jacka and illustrated by Jerry Jacka. Flagstaff: Northland Publishing.

1997 – Pueblo Cultures, Iconography of Religions. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.

2000 – Hallmarks of the Southwest, Revised & Expanded 2nd Edition. Atglen: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

2003 – Esprit Kachina: Poupees, Mythes et Ceremonies Chez les Indiens Hope et Zuni. (Kachina Spirit: Dolls, Myths and Ceremonies of the Hopi and Zuni Indians). with Pierre Amrouche, Nathalie Rheims, Francine Ndiaye, Paris: Galerie Flak.

2006 – Classic Hopi and Zuni Kachina Figures, photographs by Andrea Portago, includes “Pueblo Cultures, An Essay” by the author. Albuquerque: Museum of New Mexico Press.

2007 – Hopi & Pueblo Tiles: An Illustrated History, Kim Messier and Pat Messier, Foreword by Barton Wright. Tucson: Rio Nuevo Publishers.

2008 – Catclaw Cave, Lower Colorado River, Arizona, edited by Alan Ferg. Tucson: Arizona Archaeological Society; The Arizona Archaeologist No 37.

2014 – Kachinas: A Hopi Artist’s Documentary, paintings by Clifford Bahnimptewa, foreword by Ann Marshall. Albuquerque: Museum of New Mexico Press, reprint of first published in 1973.

Articles

1950 – “The Zanardelli Site, Arizona BB:13:12”, in The Kiva Vol 16, No 3, with Rex E. Gerald, The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society.

1956 – “A New Pleistocene Bighorn Sheep From Arizona”, with Claude W. Hibbard, in Journal of Mammalogy, Vol 37, No 1.

1975 – “Hopi Kachina – Feather Controversy” in Ray Manley’s Southwestern Indian Arts and Crafts, Tucson: Ray Manley Photography.

1976 – “Anasazi Murals”, American Indian Art, Vol 1, No 2

1976 – “Kachinas” in Arizona Highways Indian Arts and Crafts, Clara Lee Tanner, ed. Phoenix: Arizona Highways

1976 – “Tabletas, A Pueblo Art”, American Indian Art, Vol 1, No 3.

1977 – “Hopi Tiles”, American Indian Art, Vol 2, No 4.

1979 – Book review of Hopi Painting: The World of the Hopis by Patricia Janis Broder, American Indian Art, Vol 4, no 4.

1980 – “Museum Collection: San Diego Museum of Man”, American Indian Art, Vol 5, No 4.

1982 – Book review of Southwestern Indian Ritual Drama, edited by Charlotte J. Frisbie, American Indian Art, Vol 7, No 2.

1984 – “Kachina Carvings”, American Indian Art, Vol 9, No 2.

1991 – “Initials, Symbols and Secret Codes”, Inter-Tribal America, Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial.

1992 – “Pueblo Shields”, American Indian Art, Vol 17, No 2.

1995 – “Clifford Bahnimptewa”, American Indian Art, Vol 21, No 1.

1995 – “Muriel Navasie,” American Indian Art, Vol 21, No 1.

2008 – “Hopi Kachinas: A Life Force” in Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History and Law, edited by Edna Glenn, John R. Wunder, Willard Hughes Rollings, and C. L. Martin. Lincoln: UNL Digital Commons.

As Illustrator

1959 – Master of the Moving Sea: The Life of Captain Peter John Riber Mathieson, from his Anecdotes, Manuscripts, Notes, Stories and Detailed Records, Gladys M. O. Gowlland. Flagstaff: J. F. Colton & Co.

1960 – Throw Stone, The First American Boy 25,000 Years Ago, E.B. Sayles and Mary Ellen Stevens. Chicago: Reilly & Lee Co.

1960 – Column South: With the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Suzanne Colton Wilson. Flagstaff: J.F. Colton & Co.

1962 – Little Cloud and the Great Plains Hunters 15,000 Years Ago, Mary Ellen Stevens and E.B. Sayles. Chicago: Reilly & Lee Books.

1962 – Seed Plants of Wupatki and Sunset Crater National Monuments with Keys for the Identification of Species, W. B. McDougall, Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin No 37. Flagstaff: Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art.

1964 – Grand Canyon Wild Flowers, W.B. McDougall., Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin No 43. Flagstaff: Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art.

1968 – The Age Of Dinosaurs In Northern Arizona, William J. Breed. Flagstaff: Museum of Northern Arizona.

1974 – Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing, Margaret Wright. Flagstaff: Northland Press.

1980 – Rivers of Remembrance, Diego Pérez de Luxán, Marilyn Francis. Quality Publications.

Discussed in:

1995 – Town Creek Indian Mound: A Native American Legacy, Joffre Lanning Coe. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog December 27, 2015.

Overlay is Not Always Hopi Made

The following article appeared in the March 2015 issue of the Indian Trader newspaper (however they cut two important images).

Overlay is a technique where two pieces of silver are soldered together after a design has been cut from the top layer. In the final phase of construction the bottom layer is blackened with a chemical agent allowing the top design to stand out. Though not exclusive to the Hopi, they have become so proficient utilizing overlay in their unique style of jewelry that it is commonly thought they are the only ones who practice this technique.

However, since the 1950s silversmiths from other southwest tribal groups have produced overlay jewelry of their own style that is sometimes mistaken for the work of the Hopi.

Overlay as a technique for conveying traditional Hopi designs in silver originated in 1938 from drawings produced at the Museum of Northern Arizona and continued in Fred Kabotie’s silver designs for the World War II veterans classes held from 1947-1951; though overlay was only one of many techniques taught in the classes by instructor Paul Saufkie. In 1949 the Hopi Silvercraft Guild was formed and by the mid-1950s overlay was the only technique used by Guild silversmiths as the use of sheet silver became commonplace.

Overlay bracelets by (l-r) Paul Saufkie & Arthur Yowytewa, Wallie Sekayumptewa, and Douglas Holmes circa early 1950s.
Overlay bracelets by (l-r) Paul Saufkie & Arthur Yowytewa, Wallie Sekayumptewa, and Douglas Holmes circa early 1950s.

After the success of the Hopi Guild jewelry, in the 1950s many other silversmiths and shops incorporated overlay in their designs. About 1951 trader Dean Kirk of Manuelito, New Mexico, designed a series of overlay pins to be made by Navajo smiths in his employ that incorporated Hohokam and Mimbres designs. A 1958 newspaper advertisement for the shop Enchanted Mesa of Albuquerque promoted “Dean Kirk’s Navajo Overlay Silver”.

Overlay pin featuring Hohokam pottery design made by Navajo silversmiths for trader Dean Kirk, 1950s.

Also in the 1950s Woodard’s of Gallup adapted overlay designs used at the Hopi Guild and had them made into pins and earrings by Navajo silversmiths. One of their templates featured a Hopi water wave design and an area where one triangular turquoise stone would be set flush into one quadrant.

Right pin possibly made by a Pueblo silversmith. Left pin, unmarked, using Hopi Guild design, made by Navajo smith working at Woodard’s. All pieces circa 1950s.
Right pin possibly made by a Pueblo silversmith. Left pin, unmarked, using Hopi Guild design, made by Navajo smith working at Woodard’s. All pieces circa 1950s.

One of the most recognizable designs to come out of the White Hogan shop in Scottsdale was a round overlay swirl design made into necklaces, bracelets, rings, and especially earrings. This swirl motif, originally adapted by Kenneth Begay from a design painted on a piece of Hohokam pottery, was reproduced by the owners of the shop for decades using mechanical casting techniques.

Swirl design earrings and pendant and maze design ring cast by White Hogan from overlay designs created by Kenneth Begay.
Swirl design earrings and pendant and maze design ring cast by White Hogan from overlay designs created by Kenneth Begay.

Over the years many noted Indian silversmiths from various areas of the southwest incorporated the overlay technique into their designs, including Santiago Leo Coriz and Vidal Aragon both of Kewa (Santo Domingo) Pueblo and Joe H. Quintana of Cochiti. Willie Yazzie Sr. (Navajo) learned to make silver at Dean Kirk’s shop in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and afterwards made many pieces of overlay jewelry utilizing Navajo designs.

Overlay ram buckle by Hyson Craig (Navajo); bolo tie and mixed-metal wedding basket pin by Willie Yazzie Sr. (Navajo), all circa 1970s.
Overlay ram buckle by Hyson Craig (Navajo); bolo tie and mixed-metal wedding basket pin by Willie Yazzie Sr. (Navajo), all circa 1970s.

Tohono O’odham silversmith Rick Manuel started experimenting in 1976 with the overlay technique, creating designs derived from his Southern Arizona desert home. His designs were so successful they have influenced other Tohono O’odham silversmiths, most notably James Fendenheim, who also works in the overlay technique.

Overlay jewelry made by Tohono O’odham silversmith Rick Manual.
Overlay jewelry made by Tohono O’odham silversmith Rick Manual.

The best way to determine if a piece is made by a Hopi silversmith is to look for a hallmark, as Hopi overlay is always signed. From the 1950s it was signed with two marks, the artist’s personal mark and either the Hopi Guild sunface mark or the shop mark for Hopicrafts (which closed in 1983).

Overlay pieces circa early 1950s by Hopi silversmith Douglas Holmes signed with his Guild sunface mark and his personal mark of a butterfly.
Overlay pieces circa early 1950s by Hopi silversmith Douglas Holmes signed with his Guild sunface mark and his personal mark of a butterfly.

But by the mid-1990s young Hopi silversmiths were learning from other sources and did not form a relationship with the Guild, so it is less likely for pieces to also display the Guild mark after that time. Navajo and Pueblo silversmiths also typically signed their work, however if no hallmark is present then the piece still might have been made by a Navajo or Pueblo silversmith in the 1950s or 1960s era, or possibly even by an Anglo silversmith (even though Anglo smiths were more likely to produce in the 1970s and often signed their work). It is nearly impossible to attribute unsigned overlay work.

It should be noted that overlay jewelry is especially easy to reproduce by various methods of mechanical casting, and sadly many pieces of Hopi and Navajo overlay have been reproduced through the years. If reproductions are made from original hand made pieces that incorporate hallmarks, those hallmarks will often appear faintly or illegibly on the back of the reproduction.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog April 13, 2015.