Zuni, New Mexico
1970s
Sterling silver, turquoise, mother of pearl, coral, jet
Size 5
Signed Lavonne Lalio
Provenance: Private collection, Albuquerque, New Mexico
The ring is built around a standing dancer figure worked in channel inlay, with a mother of pearl face, a black jet torso, and a red coral kilt above turquoise and shell legs. A headdress of turquoise tabs radiates from a dark banded cap, silver drops line the upper edge, and a twisted silver rope arc rises behind the figure to frame the composition. Each stone is cut and ground to fit its individual silver cell, and the raised silver bezels between the pieces hold the outline of the figure crisp against the background.
Lavonne Lalio is a Zuni silversmith working in the figural inlay tradition that Zuni artists developed through the middle of the twentieth century. Signed work of this type is set apart by the precision of the stone fitting, since a figure at ring scale leaves no room for gaps or uneven joins. The ring is a wearable piece rather than a display object, and the shank is plain so that the inlaid face carries the whole of the design.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Zuni, New Mexico
1970s
Sterling silver, turquoise, mother of pearl, coral, jet
Size 5
Signed Lavonne Lalio
Provenance: Private collection, Albuquerque, New Mexico
The ring is built around a standing dancer figure worked in channel inlay, with a mother of pearl face, a black jet torso, and a red coral kilt above turquoise and shell legs. A headdress of turquoise tabs radiates from a dark banded cap, silver drops line the upper edge, and a twisted silver rope arc rises behind the figure to frame the composition. Each stone is cut and ground to fit its individual silver cell, and the raised silver bezels between the pieces hold the outline of the figure crisp against the background.
Lavonne Lalio is a Zuni silversmith working in the figural inlay tradition that Zuni artists developed through the middle of the twentieth century. Signed work of this type is set apart by the precision of the stone fitting, since a figure at ring scale leaves no room for gaps or uneven joins. The ring is a wearable piece rather than a display object, and the shank is plain so that the inlaid face carries the whole of the design.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
