Sterling Silver Mother of Pearl Ring - Size 10.5 #008

Origin

Tropical seas

Characteristics

Mother of pearl lends a soft, iridescent white glow to Native American inlay, catching the light beside turquoise, coral, and jet in classic Zuni mosaic designs.

The Artist

Hopi silverwork is defined by the overlay technique: two layers of sterling silver, the upper sheet pierced with a design and soldered over a lower layer that is oxidised dark and often textured, so the motif reads as bright silver against shadow. The style was refined into its modern form after the Second World War, when a silvercraft training programme on the Hopi mesas encouraged smiths to draw on distinctly Hopi iconography. Clouds, rain, migration spirals, bear paws, katsina figures, and water-serpent forms recur — each carrying meaning within Hopi life. Stones are rare in Hopi work; the artistry lives in the line, the contrast, and the precision of the cut.

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.