Hello I’m Robin from Texas and it seems I’m really into these beautiful Inlaid pieces of Native American jewelry, just purchased a pendant like this today, curious if this is Dishta or Zuni, still learning and don’t know the real meanings of these terms, any help would be greatly appreciated on identifying these types of jewelry pieces, thank you!
Hi there. These are Zuni pieces. Can you please photograph the back sides of the pieces? Dishta is a well-known and collectible Zuni artist. Many copied his style, so if there are any signatures on the pieces that would help us determine if they are a Dishta.
V Dishta, Zuni silvesmith, producing 1974…
classic design Family has continued his designs
No signature on either of these have any signatures,
Beautiful ring, thanks!
I have many pieces like this I’ve been collecting but hardly any ever have signatures so I just don’t know how to tell if they are the real deal
Thanks for the info! No signatures
I’m having a hard time seeing the signature on the back of the humming bird. Could you take another photo with the pin back unhinged and maybe a closer photo? From what I see it doesn’t look like a Dishta, but it is a Zuni piece.
Yes it does say Zuni, I just am confused about if all inlay pieces are considered Dishta I think, probably not right?
No. Zuni is the tribe of which made these pieces. The Zuni are a Native American tribe that are particularly known for inlay (like your pieces) jewelry, among other arts. Frank Dishta was a member of the Zuni tribe who pioneered this type of “dot” inlay (I forget the name of the style). There are many members in the Dishta family who make the same style of inlay, with Frank and Virgil Dishta being the most collectible artists. If the jewelry is not signed by a Dishta, we cannot positively say that it was made by the Dishta family. You will often see sellers with jewelry similar to yours, and the listing will say something like “attributed to Frank Dishta.” So the jewelry MAY be by a Dishta member, but many other Zuni artists mimicked the style. So, there is no guarantee unless it’s signed. Perry Null Trading Co. (the host of this forum) has a neat interview with Frank:
https://perrynulltrading.com/blog/virgil-dishta/
Your Hummingbird looks like it’s by Carlene Leekity, another Zuni who makes a lot of figural animal inlay. I could only find one example like yours. It was from an Etsy listing but I think it’s from your Etsy account.
This is great information! Thanks for this!
Yes that is my Etsy listing, lately I’ve been very curious about all of these inlay pieces, and I’m noticing many are in fact saying Dishta listing although unsigned, so this helps a ton, thanks, I’ll read the article and learn more thanks to you! Much appreciated
So I’m assuming this is an authentic cuff since it is signed Dishta, but no V or Frank, I’ve got a lot to learn, thanks so much for your expertise