Pump-Drilled and Electric-Drilled: Small Differences Make a Big Difference

The first "Indian" jewelry was made from shell and stone beads strung on a type of cordage; examples of beads made from turquoise and shell have been excavated from ruins in Chaco Canyon.  To this day, shell and turquoise bead and tab necklaces are an important part of any collection of Southwest Indian jewelry and are considered the most "Indian" of all Indian jewelry.  There are still a few artists who hand-roll their shell and stone beads, and pieces by practitioners of this art such as Cheryl Yestewa, Piki Wadsworth, Ray Lovato and the Reanos are avidly collected by the cognoscenti.  

In terms of telling the difference between older shell and turquoise necklaces and newer ones, it can be a difficult task.  The cordage used can be helpful, but often necklaces break and the original cordage is replaced by something more modern (and stronger).  The type of turquoise used can sometimes be an indicator of age, but often the turquoise is a plain green or blue, without any defining matrix to determine what mine it is from or even how old it might be.  What is left?  One major factor remaining is the method of drilling the holes in the beads, which can be very diagnostic indeed.

Shown above are two shell and turquoise necklaces.  The one on the left dates to 1940-1960, while the one on the right is considerably older, likely 1900-1920.  The reason we can say that is that the beads and tabs of the left necklace were drilled with an electric drill, while the beads and tabs of the right necklace show all the signs of being drilled with a pump drill.

Before the Pueblos were electrified sometime in the period between 1945 and 1960, the only method beadmakers had to drill holes into their beads was the pump drill.  One is shown above without the sharpened bit that would be attached to the bottom.  The stick in the middle is pushed up and down and slides along the shaft, creating a back-and-forth spin of the sharpened bit that (eventually) creates a drilled hole.  It is tedious work, because the bit does not rotate quickly enough to do much drilling work on every pump, but as they say, it beats the alternative.

If you look at the piece of turquoise above, which is from the right-hand necklace, so can see the results of a pump drill at work.  The hole produced is conical, and normally quite a bit larger at the top than the bottom.  Also, since a pump driller would drill on one side until it pierced the other and then turn over the bead to be drilled from the other side, the overall profile of the hole is that of an hourglass, with one side deeper than the other.  Contrast that with the hole in the piece of turquoise below:

This turquoise is from the newer necklace, and you can see the hole is quite a bit smaller and more regular.  It was drilled electrically, with something similar to a dental drill.  The high speed of the electric drill creates a cylindrical hole with a nearly even profile and enables the beadmaker to make many more beads with far less breakage and effort.

Whether pump-drilled or electrically drilled, making beads is an art form to be admired.  But pump-drilled pieces are old and quite rare, and command far higher prices than their equally beautiful electrically drilled cousins.

For information on either of the necklaces pictures here, or with any questions, feel free to email us or give us a call at (480) 423-8777.

Happy New Year!

  

Monongya's Mastery, In One Piece

 The list of true contemporary masters in Southwest Indian silverwork is short, but any such list surely must include the name of Jesse Monongya.  Through his long and productive career, he has continually pushed the boundaries of "Indian" jewelry, both technically and in his choice of materials.  His mastery of mosaic inlay is superb, and he almost singlehandedly popularized the use of materials such as opal.  We would like to celebrate him and his jewelry by looking closely at a piece that demonstrates what is great and unique about his work--this 14k gold and inlay belt buckle.

The buckle is one of his "night sky" pieces, although different from many in that the background is blue rather than black.  Many artists have followed his lead in making "night sky" pieces, but he was the original, and his work is of exceedingly high quality.  He also used the finest materials, such as natural opal, high grade coral and natural lapis.  His use of dot inlay is not groundbreaking (Leo Poblano and Teddy Weahkee were doing it as far back as the 1930s), but the way he sometimes uses a ring of gold or silver around a colored dot is his innovation (note the red dot in the top right hand corner of the buckle with a gold ring around it.)  And, in fact, three of the red dots are actually high-quality Burmese rubies that fluoresce under UV light. 

One thing about this buckle that is different from much of his earlier work is his use of diamonds along the edges.  And not just tiny melee diamonds, either--each diamond is approximately 3/16 of a carat, so there is a total of approximately 1.5 carats of diamond in the buckle.  As is proper when setting diamonds, he left the back open to let more light through to highlight the sparkle of the stones.

What is truly unique about this buckle, though, is what is on the back:

Totally unexpected, and quite wonderful.  Note the great attention to detail, including the coral tips to the antennae of the butterfly.  Kind of an homage to Loloma and his "inner beauty" pieces with the inlay on the inside, where only the wearer knows it is there.  His hallmark is directly above the butterfly, and his last name is spelled with an A on the end, as he did in later pieces.  (We currently have a necklace he did in 1985 where it is spelled with an E on the end.)

The buckle measures 2 3/4" x 1 5/8", takes up to a 1" leather, and weighs 77 grams.  It is currently available for purchase--for more information, email us or call at (480) 423-8777.

   

Dealer Lingo: The Slang We Use

Every business has its own vernacular language, and the antique Indian art business is no different.  We as dealers sometimes assume that what we say is understandable to everyone, when in fact a little dictionary would sometimes be quite helpful.  So, as a public service, here is a listing of terms that we in the biz use that you may run into sometimes, and their real-world definitions:

Tranny--definitely not what it means in the bigger world.  A transitional blanket, woven by a Navajo weaver between 1880 and 1905.  Made from handspun wools, often in an eye-dazzler pattern.

Stoplight ring--a Navajo ring with three round turquoise, set vertically like in a stoplight.

Salt and pepper beadwork--beadwork done with a random pattern of colors, rather than in a specific pattern.

Diamond slot First Phase--an early Navajo concho belt, with a diamond shaped opening with a central bar so that the leather can be threaded through the concho.  These were made before soldering was a common practice amongst the Navajo, because after that, loops were soldered on to the back of conchos to hold the leather.

Height bracelet or ring--a bracelet or ring with stones set in differing heights.  This was a specialty of Charles Loloma, who invented the technique and used it to represent mesas and landscapes.  Not a common technique, but when done well it is very striking and beautiful.

Fishscale inlay--a Zuni technique of channel inlay where the stones are set in small, curved pieces.  The resulting effect is very much like a fishscale pattern.

Sawtooth bezel--a silver bezel with hand-cut serrations resembling the teeth of a saw blade.  Normally found in early (pre-1930) Navajo silverwork.

Heavy Harvey jewelry--tourist-trade oriented jewelry that is heavier than the usual very thin, badly made jewelry that was sold to tourists before 1940.  Unlike much tourist trade jewelry, Heavy Harvey pieces are hand-made, and often incorporate good turquoise.

Windowpane earrings--early (usually) earrings where a turquoise tab is edge-wrapped in silver to produce a windowpane effect on both sides. 

Blank--a commercially made casting mold, often used in lower-end jewelry to produce cast pieces.  Pieces made from blanks will be even and precise and will show up multiple times.  Pieces from hand-carved casting molds will show the slight imperfections of all hand-made things and will often be totally unique.

Shiprock Yei--a Navajo weaving with a white background, incorporating Yei holy figures and often cornplants.  Most were woven in the Four Corners region, an area dominated by Shiprock.

Crow pink--a shade of pink beads that was especially favored in the work of the Crow people.

Cutter--a Navajo weaving that is so damaged that its only use is to be cut up and used for pillows or in jacket inserts.

Resto--short for restoration.

Beader--a piece of beadwork that is damaged beyond repair and is normally used as a "bead mine" to fix other pieces.

Whitehearts--early red beads with a white center.

Dance bead--a bead, usually turquoise, that has been attached to a necklace to show that it has been worn in a dance or ceremony.

Burn--as in, "to burn a piece".  That is, to expose a piece to the market at an unrealistic high price.  A pet peeve of reputable dealers.

That is all for now, but we will rack our brains searching for other entries.  If you know of any that we have neglected, please let us know!