This spring we had the opportunity to once again drive along Hwy 264 through the Hopi reservation located in northeastern Arizona. Located on the Colorado Plateau, the reservation of the Hopi tribe contains 1.6 million acres of land at elevations from 4,700 to 7,800 feet. Hopi Land is a high, sunny, arid desert with only ten inches of snow or rain a year. The Hopi have lived here and preserved their culture and their villages for well over one thousand years.
There are twelve Hopi villages located on the tops of or at the feet of three mesas, called First, Second and Third Mesas.
We stopped in at the Hopi Arts & Crafts Co-op Guild on Second Mesa, located next to the Hopi Cultural Center & Museum. We selected a number of elegant sterling silver overlay bracelets, earrings, pendants and buckles, all of which are for sale on our website here:
And if you don't see what you want, you can try contacting the Guild directly:
In 1947, after World War II, returning Hopi servicemen were trained at a silversmithing school founded under the G.I. bill. The late Paul Saufkie, Sr. was the technical instructor and the late Fred Kobotie, taught design. Although many techniques of making silver were used, the overlay style gradually emerged as the dominate style. This simple, unique, elegant jewelry is now considered essentially "the" Hopi style of jewelry.
In 1949, they established a guild with its own hallmark. The Guild's purpose was to produce, purchase, promote, sell handcrafts and jewelry and to operate related activities. The Hopi Arts and Crafts Co-op Guild now has its own building on Second Mesa, Arizona, next to the Hopi Cultural Center & Museum. Any craftsman, potter, basketmaker, weaver or silversmith can have his or her work displayed and sold there. Half the building is devoted to work benches and supplies for the silversmiths.
When you buy from the Hopi Guild, you are buying quality and authentic pieces of jewelry. To assure authenticity, all Guild jewelry bears both the Hopi Guild sun symbol and the individual silversmith's clan mark (hallmark). Authentic Hopi jewelry sold outside of the guild is usually marked with either the silversmith's clan symbol or a registered silversmith's signature or initials.
Overlay is a process of soldering one piece of silver, from which a design has been cut, over another piece of silver. The top layer is a handmade, hand cut overlay created from a sheet of sterling that is then bonded to the base layer of sterling. The base layer background is usually oxidized, which turns the silver surface black, and is often scratched or stamped. The oxidation brings out a contrast between the two pieces and makes the individual designs more visible. This technique remains characteristic of Hopi style and was developed out of a project initiated by the Museum of Northern Arizona in 1930 to encourage the Hopi to develop their own unique jewelry, distinguishable from other Native American silversmiths. Hopi overlay pieces often tell a story, incorporating several images into one piece of jewelry.
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