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.
