Santo Domingo Jewelry
While contemporary Indian jewelry has followed many paths, the work
most closely linked to the jewelry creations of ancestral Puebloans is
the stone and shell necklaces, pendants, rings and bracelets produced
at Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico. Ray Lovato’s heishi necklaces
and flat stone earrings provide one of the best modern examples of how
ancient Puebloan jewelry looked. (Continued below)
Hand Strung Carico Lake Turquoise Santo Domingo Necklace - Ray Lovato (#27)
Santo Domingo Jewelry
Hand Strung Carico Lake Turquoise Necklace with Sterling Silver clasps 17 3/4" long $425.00
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Santo Domingo Ancestors Silver & 14K Gold Overlay Bracelet - Roderick & Marilyn Tenorio (#01)
Santo Domingo Jewelry
"Ancestors" Sterling Silver & 14K Gold Overlay Bracelet Size - 6 3/8 Opening - 1" Inner Circumference - 5 3/8" $1,375.00
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Santo Domingo Heishi Necklace - Lita Atencio (#01)
Santo Domingo Jewelry
Handcut & Shaped Olividae Shell & Mother of Pearl Heishi Necklace 25 1/2" long $390.00
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14k Gold Santo Domingo Bracelet - Roderick Tenorio (#01)
Santo Domingo Jewelry
Sterling Silver and 14k Gold Bracelet Size - 6 Inner Circumference - 5" Opening - 1" $945.00
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Santa Domingo Handmade Spiny Oyster Necklace - Ray Lovato (#21)
Santa Domingo Jewelry
Handcut and Beaded Natural Spiny Oyster Necklace 26 1/2" long Jacla - 6 5/8" long Watch the Video! $1,500.00
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Handmade Castle Dome Turquoise Santo Domingo Necklace & Earrings set - Andrew Lovato (#01)
Santo Domingo Jewelry
Handcut and Handstrung Natural Castle Dome Turquoise Necklace and Sterling Silver French Hook Earrings Set Necklace - 30 1/2" long Earrings - 3 3/8" long $3,000.00
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When stone merchants come to the village, competition for turquoise and other materials is fierce. Using five-gallon cans for chairs, Santo Domingo women arrange themselves around tables piled with stones and shells to individually pick the raw materials they will shape into their jewelry.
Discoidal bead necklaces known as heishi require rough-cut stones which are first drilled, usually with electric drills and grinding machines, and then strung on a wire. Next the artist holds both ends of a wire strand and carefully draws the beads back and forth across a grinding wheel or other rough surface, shaping the heishi. The diameter of the beads can be very fine or more substantial. The artist then strings the beads on a softer cord such as cotton. Formed this way, good Santo Domingo heishi should feel uniform and smooth to the touch when running your fingers along the beads.
Mosaic inlay is still prevalent among several families at Santo Domingo Pueblo. Traditional backings - wood or shell - gave way to experimental materials such as phonograph records or car batteries in the early half of the twentieth century. Today shell is widely used as a backing. Santo Domingo artists my leave the shells in their natural form or trim them to a certain shape. As with other types of Puebloan mosaic inlay, the artist then creates a design or pattern on the backing with many varied-sized stones. Santo Domingo mosaic work tends to be more abstract in design than the geometric and pictorial mosaics of Zuni artists.
Artists who create Santo Domingo Jewelry:
Lita Atencio |
Andrew Lovato |
Ray Lovato |
Roderick Tenorio |
Roderick & Marilyn Tenorio |
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