My Dad has been presented with a pleasant challenge. A friend of his
has her Mother’s small collection of contemporary Native American
Jewelry to liquidate.
Many of the Jewelry items are Zuni & signed by hand, not stamped. So
with names like W. Begay, Lotti, L & V Harker, J & E Wilson, FL
Natachu, & more, we were hoping we may be able to actually track
down some more info on the Jewelry.
Our main purpose in wanting additional info, is to help price the
collection for sale. That will be our next project, to market the
items.
Does anyone have any direction to point us in to research this info?
Since I have a small collection of Native American Indian jewelry
myself, two very good books I use for research are:
Turquoise Jewelry of the Indians of the Southwest by Edna Mae and
John F. Bennett Published in 1973 by The Turquoise books of Colorado
Springs, CO.
Southwestern Indian Jewelry by Dexter Cirillo Published in 1992 by
Abbeyville Press Publishers-New York, NY Both of these books have
great pictures and referance lists
Then when I need further research I do check on-line at EBAY.
Sometimes similar pieces are up for sale but you also get to see
what dealers may be offering at their own site. Hope this helps!!!
You might be able to get from the Heard Museum
(www.heard.org) in Phoenix, AZ. They are well known for their Native
American arts collections, Indian Market, and retail outlet for many
of the classic and contemporary Native American jewelers.
In our appraisal practice, we use an auction house in Denver, Allard
Auctions, that specializes in high quality Native American artifacts
of all types, especially more to the collectible end of the spectrum.
Their website has histories of past auctions and are great research
tools for current market conditions.
For additional possible research regarding the Native American
collection I suggest contacting IACA (Indian Arts & Crafts Assoc.)
(505) 265-9149 4010 Carlisle N.N., Suite C Albuquerque, NM 87107
Fax: 505/265-8251
I don’t have their web site handy but it should pop up under IACA
(or spelled out).
The e-mail below is for Jan Lloyd culture@cybermesa.com - her
husband Lane Coulter is probably someone who can help you - His
expertise is in Native american art and ethnographic art: blankets,
silver work, and tin work - They live in Santa Fe - and he is/was
the metalsmithing jewelry instructor at the American Indian Art
School ( not sure if that is the exact name) - also in Santa Fe. He
has done tons of research and published many articles - a book or
two also.