Sterling Silver Coral, Lapis Lazuli & Mother of Pearl Earrings - Post #030

Characteristics

Mother of pearl is the iridescent inner lining of certain sea shells — a soft, shifting white that catches and scatters light. In Zuni and Santo Domingo inlay it supplies the luminous, pale passages that balance the saturated color of turquoise, coral, and jet, the quiet element that makes a mosaic glow.

The Artist

The Zuni are master lapidaries, and Zuni jewelry is first a story of stone. Needlepoint and petit point set dozens — sometimes hundreds — of small, hand-cut turquoise stones in slender silver bezels; channel and mosaic inlay fit precisely cut turquoise, coral, jet, and shell edge to edge into flush, painterly compositions. Cluster work arranges cabochons in radiant rosettes, and the Zuni fetish-carving tradition shapes stone and shell into small animal forms. Where Navajo work leads with silver, Zuni work leads with the lapidary's patience and precision.

Heritage

Master lapidaries of the Southwest — Zuni needlepoint, petit point, channel inlay, and carved fetishes where the stone, not the silver, leads.

Art Traditions

Zuni artistry is inseparable from Zuni religious and communal life. The animal forms rendered in fetish carving correspond to the directional guardians and beings of A:shiwi cosmology — the six directions, each with its color and its protector — and fetishes hold a place in Zuni spiritual practice that long predates their making for sale. The pieces offered to the public are made with care to honor, rather than expose, what remains sacred. The Zuni have sustained their ceremonial calendar — including the great Shalako observance — through centuries of outside pressure, and adornment plays its part in that ceremonial life. Jewelry-making, meanwhile, became a cornerstone of the pueblo's economy in the twentieth century, and today a large share of Zuni households practice some aspect of the craft. Lapidary skill at Zuni is typically a family inheritance. Households often specialize — one family known for needlepoint, another for inlay, another for fetish carving — with techniques and standards passed from one generation to the next at the workbench. Humiovi honors the spiritual and familial dimension of Zuni work, presenting these pieces as the achievements of named artisans and living lineages, not as anonymous craft. This concentration of skill has made Zuni one of the most artistically productive communities in the Native world, with a depth of specialized knowledge — the cutting of a particular bezel, the carving of a particular fetish form, the fitting of a particular inlay — that is genuinely rare and not easily replaced. When that knowledge passes from a parent to a child at the bench, an entire body of technique and judgment moves with it. To buy authentic Zuni jewelry is, in a direct sense, to support the continuation of that living knowledge and the families who hold it.

Certificate of Authenticity

Every purchase includes a Certificate of Authenticity documenting the artist, tribal affiliation, and materials used in your piece.

Returns & Exchanges

Return within 30 days of delivery. Exchanges for an item of equal or greater value carry no restocking fee; refund returns are subject to a 20% restocking fee, with return shipping paid by you. Items must be in new, unworn, and unused condition with all original packaging — your Certificate of Authenticity is yours to keep. Custom and personalized pieces are not eligible.