Zuni
Southwest
1970s
Sterling silver, turquoise, mother of pearl, and shell
Height 8 inches (20.3 cm), cord length 44 inches (111.8 cm)
188.3 grams
Signed
Provenance: Private collection, Albuquerque, New Mexico
The slide is a standing drummer in mosaic inlay, built up from hundreds of individually cut and fitted pieces that give the figure its shirt, leggings, sash, and moccasins, each section separated by silver channels that draw the outline the way a pencil line would. Behind him rises a war bonnet of long graded feathers finished with a row of silver beads along the outer edge, and his face is cut from pale shell with the features worked in fine detail at a scale of less than an inch. The drum he strikes is inlaid with triangles in shell and set on its own mount, and it detaches from the slide to be worn separately as a pin, so the piece can be shown two ways.
The bolo hangs on a 44 inch black braided leather cord with a clamp backing and handmade sterling silver tips, the tips inlaid to match the slide.
Jonathan Beyuka is a Zuni silversmith born in 1953, the son of the Zuni jeweler Eddie Beyuka. He works in the Zuni mosaic inlay tradition, cutting and fitting turquoise, shell, and other materials into figural compositions set in silver. Standing Plains dancer and drummer figures of this kind are the work the Beyuka name is associated with, and pieces at this scale were made as exhibition and show work rather than as regular trade stock.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Zuni
Southwest
1970s
Sterling silver, turquoise, mother of pearl, and shell
Height 8 inches (20.3 cm), cord length 44 inches (111.8 cm)
188.3 grams
Signed
Provenance: Private collection, Albuquerque, New Mexico
The slide is a standing drummer in mosaic inlay, built up from hundreds of individually cut and fitted pieces that give the figure its shirt, leggings, sash, and moccasins, each section separated by silver channels that draw the outline the way a pencil line would. Behind him rises a war bonnet of long graded feathers finished with a row of silver beads along the outer edge, and his face is cut from pale shell with the features worked in fine detail at a scale of less than an inch. The drum he strikes is inlaid with triangles in shell and set on its own mount, and it detaches from the slide to be worn separately as a pin, so the piece can be shown two ways.
The bolo hangs on a 44 inch black braided leather cord with a clamp backing and handmade sterling silver tips, the tips inlaid to match the slide.
Jonathan Beyuka is a Zuni silversmith born in 1953, the son of the Zuni jeweler Eddie Beyuka. He works in the Zuni mosaic inlay tradition, cutting and fitting turquoise, shell, and other materials into figural compositions set in silver. Standing Plains dancer and drummer figures of this kind are the work the Beyuka name is associated with, and pieces at this scale were made as exhibition and show work rather than as regular trade stock.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
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