I’ve pretty much recovered from the fabulous trip…I’ll share some of my purchases. I bought from a couple jewelers at market, but also at other venues we typically visit.
I can’t pass up wonderful vintage pins, and found several. From top left, clockwise: Horace Iule, Lawerence Saufkie, Horace Iule again, and Frank Vacit. (Guess it’s evident I’m attracted to Knifewings!)
A friend of mine had recently purchased a nice cuff from a young Navajo jeweler unfamiliar to me, Gabriel Nathan. Then Rafael at Rainbowman was wearing one of his gorgeous cuff, so we stopped at his booth. He is such a wonderful young man and creates great old style tufa cast pieces with file, chisel, stamping and reprousse. I bought this Bisbee cuff…heavier than most of my cuffs, but it’s a perfect fit:
And…the the one piece I was hoping for was one of Cippy Crazyhorse’s shorter hand made bead necklace. In my opinion he makes some of the best heavy handmade beads available. Fortunately, the length I wanted had not been purchased, and I found this fabulous, unusual (for me) pendant (Candalaria, per Cippy). I love his and his family pieces:
Thanks for pointing that out @Ziacat! I just realized I misspelled Gabriel Natan’s name, then realized it was the silly auto correct! Glad you have heard of him…there are so many great NA artists that I’m not familiar with. Being at Markets drives that home!
Ha! @nanc9354. That’s an interesting way to put it!!! That will be a good excuse from here on out. However, as you and @Ziacat stated, I believe that purchasing quality is a reasonably good investment.
Gorgeous, great choices @Bmpdvm! Love them all, but especially the Vacit (is it hallmarked?), the bracelet, and that Cippy necklace! Agree Cippy makes some of the best handmade silver beads today, and what a cool and unique pendant on the necklace. The turquoise is gorgeous, too. Also love the Natan cuff with that beautiful Bisbee. Gabriel and his wife are also lovely people.
I’m still sorry we didn’t meet up at the Heard a few years ago, and feel bad I made you reluctant to try again for meetups with other forum members!
Hi there @OrbitOrange! Yes, the Vacit piece is hallmarked, and It’s now my favorite Knifewing😄. Glad to hear you know Gabriel and his wife! I hadn’t heard of them, but enjoyed spending a bit of time with them. We had been told by Rafael at Rainbowman that Naomi had been ill, and he was worried whether they’d make Market. She was there and my friend bought a gorgeous necklace from her…but she was experiencing hearing loss. She did a pretty good job reading lips; I hope it’s temporary!
You didn’t make me reluctant to meet up with some of you wonderful like minded folks; I was being a bit sarcastic, but, as you know it is a busy time. Hope we do get to try again😉.
Still jealous of everyone’s finds at Santa Fe. Our consolation was driving up to Flagstaff on Saturday for the Hopi Arts and Cultural Festival. There were only a handful of silversmiths but about 75 vendors. We spent more than we’d planned. It was a really fun event.
This is my last show and tell on this subject, but I just have to share my finished carved No. 8 leaf pendant by Ernie Lister. He had to take it home to apply the bale I wanted. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen…perfect on sterling beads or multi strand turquoise beads:
@Bmpdvm Really nice pieces! Awesome that you were able to go. It just wasn’t in the cards for me this year. Of course, I love your Knifewings, especially the small Iule one with the border around it! But those Bisbee stones!!! That’s Fire, as my grandkids would say! And that huge #8 pendant set in silver is amazing! (sigh!) Maybe next year!
Well, ya know of course Old man Leeyka’s carved leaves are famous! My guess is that he was the first to carve leaves, so…you are correct in your Zuni thoughts. Since I’ll never have a Leeyka carved leaf, this one is next bestl love it😄.
Thanks @AC. I don’t go Market every year, but for the last several years I’ve gone with acouple girlfriends; leaving the guys behind😊. One of my friends knows Your friend Kathy Videl …that’s how I found out about Crown Jewels and Coin! We actually ran into her acouple times at Market. We have a great time and enable each other’s purchases more than we should. We see some of the some collectors from all over the US every year; fun to catch up!
Hope it’s in your cards to go soon…
“Kingman really is the great imitator (or maybe everything else just imitates Kingman ). With those green areas in the blue, I would have totally guessed something else like Sonoran Gold”.
I totally agree! That cab in @Stracci’s gorgeous cuff is fabulous, but like you, I would not have guessed Kingman. Seems recently I’ve seen a lot of jewelry with stated turquoise that confounds me,… but who knows? Guess we shouldn’t give out opinions about turquoise any more…chances are we’d be wrong🤪
And hey, not a lot of months left this year, and then we can start over!!
