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Item# 0188J Troy Natachu, Zuni.
Item# 0200J Artist Unknown.
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![[map of Zuni territory]](../images/zunimap.jpg)
etween
1830 and 1840, the Zunis made crude jewelry from copper and brass.
They pounded them into rather primitive rings, bracelets, and
buttons. In 1872 Atsidi Chon, a Navajo silversmith, visited the
Zuni Pueblo. He taught silversmithing to a Zuni named Lanyade,
who was the only Zuni in the Pueblo who was able to speak and
understand Navajo. By the 1890's the Zunis were ready to try
the difficult feat of stone setting. Their success in doing this
was an accomplishment of far-reaching artistic and economic significance.
From 1900 on, the turquoise and silver combination became a major
element of the jewelry market with the Zunis achieving renown
for several different styles. They do cluster work, (as seen
in concho belts, pins, rings, squash blossom necklaces, and bracelets)
combining a large group of pear-shaped stones, usually turquoise,
which symbolizes life-giving power. Petit point (as seen in pins,
pendants, bracelets, and earrings) also evolved as a type of
cluster work. In this style, the stones are rounded at one end
and pointed at the other. The stones are sent into a silver bezel
in various designs and geometric patterns. Needlepoint also evolved
as a style in which coral or turquoise stones that are pointed
at each end are set in place with sealing wax. The artist then
meticulously shapes, grinds, and polishes them into perfection.
No other pueblo or tribe has equaled the skill of the best Zuni
cutters of the delicate, slender needlepoint turquoise. With
time the Zuni were also instrumental in developing inlay or channel
work in which stones are cut to fit into channels or groves in
the silver, and more recently, gold jewelry base. The Zunis have
shown an exuberant, artistic, and economic flexibility that has
made them one of the leaders in design and execution of jewelry
that have become works of art.
