Date: Fri 17-Sep-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: MARYG

Quick Words:

Zuni-Wallace-Heard-jewelry

Full Text:

Zuni Jewelry From The C G Wallace Collection At The Heard Museum

(with 1 cut)

PHOENIX, ARIZ. -- An exhibit at the Heard Museum, "Blue Gem, White Metal:

Carvings and Jewelry from the C.G. Wallace Collection," tells of Wallace's

historic tenure as a trader at Zuni Pueblo and explores the evolution of Zuni

jewelry in the Twentieth Century. It tells of the carvers and jewelers who

worked with Wallace and features more than 230 exquisite pieces given by

Wallace to the Heard in 1975. The exhibit will run through October 17.

"Blue Gem, White Metal: Carvings and Jewelry from the C.G. Wallace Collection"

is generously funded by Merrill Lynch with additional support from the

National Endowment for the Arts, Viad and the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

Wallace was instrumental in bringing supplies and materials to Zuni artists,

providing locally accessible turquoise and silver as well as exotic materials

like Mediterranean coral. He, in turn, served as an advocate of Zuni and

Navajo jewelers, promoting their work and selling items throughout the United

States and Europe.

"This collection includes the best of the best, really fine quality pieces,"

says Deb Slaney, curator for the exhibit. "The silverwork is beautiful, the

stones are high quality, large and well shaped. The craftsmanship is

impeccable. The carvings and mosaic work show a strong sense of three

dimensionality. The textures and colors are very strong. These are really

fantastic pieces."

"Blue Gem, White Metal" features a wide variety of techniques including

carving, mosaic overlay and inlay, casting, nugget work, channel inlay,

cluster and row work, petit point and needlepoint.

Covering a large span of time, the exhibit touches on the prehistory of Zuni

jewelry and encompasses the rapid transformation that Zuni jewelry experienced

during the time period when Wallace operated trading posts in Zuni, New

Mexico, and Sanders, Arizona. Historical photos of jewelers, many of which

have never been published, augment the beautiful objects -- necklaces,

bracelets, bow guards, rings, pins and carvings of people and animals.

"This exhibit is a wonderful opportunity to present the recollections of the

carvers and jewelers who traded and sold their work through C.G. Wallace,"

Slaney says. "The jewelry and carvings are fabulous and the memories of the

artists and the history behind them add to their beauty."

The Heard Museum is on 2301 North Central Avenue. Telephone 602/252-8840.