Navajo Horse Pin, c. 1950s

Navajo pin, c, 1950s

Charles Loloma: Pendant

Charles Loloma

Charles Loloma

Charles Loloma

Charles Loloma

Charles Loloma

Charles Loloma

Charles Loloma: His Name Means "Beauty"

Charles Loloma

Charles Loloma

Charles Loloma

Charles Loloma

Gold and pearls -- works for me!

Charles Loloma maintained a deep reverence for Hopi beliefs and the ceremonies. He lived by the Hopi calendar, its cycles of birth, death, and regeneration. In Autumn, the fields behind his studio were filled with ripening squash and melon, and on the crest behind it, he was found with relatives roasting corn to provide for the winter ahead. 

There is a seeming disparity between this way of life and the sophisticated world in which he moved. His answer to this was -- “We are a very serious people and have tried hard to elevate ourselves, but in order to create valid art, you have to be true to yourself and your heritage”. He also said: -- “I felt a strong kinship to stones, not just the precious and semi-precious stones I use in my jewelry, but the humble stones I pick up at random while on a hike through the hills or a walk along the beach. I feel the stone and think, not to conquer it, but to help it express itself."

The Sky Stone

Turquoise

Turquoise

Turquoise

Turquoise

Turquoise

Turquoise

Turquoise is perhaps the oldest stone in man’s history, the talisman of kings, shamans, and warriors. It is a stone of protection, strong and opaque, yet soothing to the touch, healing to the eye, as if carved from an azure heaven and slipped to Earth. Its unique shade of blue, often blue-green, lends it name, turquoise, to all things of this tranquil hue. The delicate veining or mottled webbing in cream or brown is inherent to the stone and serves to enhance its character. 

The name turquoise is derived from the French, pierre turquoise, meaning “Turkish stone,” because the trade routes that brought turquoise to Europe from the mines in central Asia went through Turkey, and Venetian merchants often purchased the stone in Turkish bazaars. 

For thousands of years, turquoise has spanned all cultures, prized as a symbol of wisdom, nobility and the power of immortality. Among the Ancient Egyptians, Persians and Chinese, Aztecs and Incas of South America, and Native North Americans, turquoise was sacred in its adornment and for power, luck, and protection. 

Turquoise beads dating back to 5000 B.C. have been found in Iraq, and the Egyptians were mining the stones in the Sinai in 3200 B.C. The death mask of Tutankhamun was studded with turquoise, as were the mosaic masks dedicated to the gods, the fabulous inlaid skulls, shields, and power statues of Moctezuma, the last ruler of the Aztecs. 

For nearly a thousand years, Native Americans have mined and fashioned turquoise, using it to guard their burial sites. Their gems have been found from Argentina to New Mexico. Indian priests wore it in ceremonies when calling upon the great spirit of the sky. Many honored turquoise as the Universal Stone, believing their minds would become one with the universe when wearing it. Because of its ability to change colors, it was used in prophesy or divining. To the prehistoric Native, turquoise, worn on the body or used in ceremonies always signified the God of the Sky alive in the Earth. 

Sonwai (Verma Nequatewa): Contemporary Hopi Inlaid Gold Jewelry

Sonwai

Sonwai

Sonwai

Sonwai

Sonwai

Sonwai

Sonwai

Sonwai

Sonwai

Harry Apodruk: Native Inupiaq Scrimshaw Art

Harry Apodruk

Harry Apodruk

Harry Apodruk

Harry Apodruk

Harry Apodruk

Harry Apodruk

Harry Apodruk

Harry Apodruk

Harry Apodruk

These pieces are original scrimshaw artworks by the listed Inupiaq Eskimo artist, Harry Apodruk (1929-1988), of the White Mountain community. Apodruk was hired by Porter and Jensen Jewelers in Seattle in the 1960s to make artwork for their collections. Examples of his work can be found in the Burke Museum at the University of Washington.

Scrimshaw is Fine Art, and as such, the drawing has value for its own sake. However, unlike painting, scrimshaw is done on a unique "ground" of ivory or whale baleen, materials that are usually more valuable than any foundation of stretched cloth or linen. The handcrafting of scrimshaw is part of American heritage. It is said by some to be the oldest of all North American art forms. To its fans, no other art form in America is said to have a longer history. For them no other expression of art has had more significance or influence on the American spirit.

"Scrimshaw" is a word whose origins are caught up in controversy. Many say it comes from an old English nautical slang expression meaning "to waste time." But others have supported origins for the word that range from America to China. While the word’s origin may always be debated, it is a style of art and craft generally described as the incising, engraving, carving, or fashioning of primarily ivory and bone (but may also include other natural and man-made materials) into works of art or other decorative or useful articles.

A scrimshander is the person who creates works of scrimshaw.

Archeologists in Eastern North America have found works of art comparable to scrimshaw made by native peoples from land and marine ivory and bone that date back as far as 100-200 AD, but it was really the Yankee whalers of the 1800s who are most often credited with creating, popularizing, and naming the art form -- making it a traditionally American art form.

With long periods of time on their hands between one whale and the next on what could be as much as three years or more at sea, Yankee sailors took up the art form as a way to pass the time. But at sea, the only ivory and bone available to them were from the whales they hunted. This nautical expression of the art form was quickly passed from ship to ship, and it wasn’t long before scrimshaw was introduced to coastal Native cultures in Alaska, who immediately embraced the art form. It was also welcomed and practiced by whalers and sailors from countries around the globe.

As a result, scrimshaw has been characterized as an art form started and practiced by whalemen, sailors, or others associated with nautical pursuits. Unfortunately, this is an lamentable slight to the Eastern North American cultures who are also credited, however grudgingly at times, with working in the art form.