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.
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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.