Vintage Navajo silver heavy bolo tie with three turquoise. Solid sterling silver slide and tips. Weight and measurements in pics. One tip dented. 42" long

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TOMMY SINGER Navajo (1940 2014) Large sterling bolo tie with turquoise, 41" long in very good condition with high grade Kingman waterweb turquoise. 132 grams. TOMMY SINGER (Navajo b. 1940 2014) Tommy grew up in a small community of Dilcon on the Navajo reservation. Tommy Singer was a Navajo silversmith who specialized in chip-inlay jewelry. His inlaid turquoise, coral, and silver pieces incorporated traditional Navajo designs. Singer gained acclaim as the originator of the chip inlay design. Because of this innovation, Tommy is considered by many as one of the greatest contemporary Indian jewelry silversmiths of our time. Even though he was world renowned, he worked on the Navajo reservation in a small studio surrounded with his family and other tribal members. The Singer family has been involved in silversmithing, stone and beadwork for a very long time, handing the art down from one generation to another. Tommy was a silversmith for over 50 years. He learned the art of silversmithing from his father when he was just 7 years old. His Father Tsinnigine Hathali was a Navajo Medicine man. Tommy incorporates many traditional sandpainting and rug designs of the Navajo People into his jewelry. Tommy began creating jewelry full-time at the age of 21. His early works were done in the silver overlay technique. His work soon began to feature Turquoise stones. While working with scrap turquoise chips, Tommy pioneered the technique of Chip inlay used by thousands of artists to this day. For many years Tommy and his brothers created Jewelry using the Chip inlay style. Later in life, Tommy had returned to his roots by creating Exquisite Silver Overlaid Jewelry with intricate designs. His current work often includes 14 Karat Gold Overlaid on Silver. Tommy also carved storyteller scenes and silver bead necklaces with tremendous skill. When asked about his work, Singer said, "Every piece is made with the various meanings from my traditional ways - the Navajo way of living. My father was asilversmith, too. He taught me, and wanted me to continue this trade. It was my father‘s dream that I learn to silversmith so that I could continue his beliefs." His work is well known internationally and is featured in a number of Indian art publications. One can easily recognize Tommys work. He marks his finished pieces with “T. Singer or with “T and a crescent moon. Whether Tommy created a bolo tie, buckle, ring, necklace, pendant, or bracelet, he stated that, “All my jewelry is made to satisfy my customer. Each piece is unique and is made very different. I try hard to make different styles and designs of my jewelry. His legacy of work will continue to live on for many years. In fact, Rosita (Rose) and the family have continued Tommys legacy by creating jewelry with his designs. Tommy and his wife Rose came up with a new hallmark before his death which is “T&R Singer. Once all of the items he made are sold, the family will be signing the new jewelry with the T&R Singer hallmark. His legacy of work will continue to live on for many years. All precious metals are tested and guaranteed. A Native American jewelry piece referred to as "silver" or "ingot" is guaranteed to be at least 90% silver. I rarely use the word "sterling" when referring to older Native American silver or really any older silver jewelry as silver contents vary and "sterling" is 92.5% silver. No older jewelry is going to be exactly 92.5% silver, some a little over, some a little under. It wasn‘t an exact thing with handmade jewelry. I‘ve seen thousands of pieces xrf‘d to prove this. Bracelets are photographed on a 6" women‘s wrist.

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c1960 c-31 Tommy Singer Navajo Peyote Bird Sterling chip inlay bolo tie. The upside down T hallmark at the bottom of this bolo is exactly like the T is his earliest TC Hallmark. Solid sterling silver slide and tips. Weight and measurements in pics. TOMMY SINGER (Navajo b. 1940 2014) Tommy grew up in a small community of Dilcon on the Navajo reservation. Tommy Singer was a Navajo silversmith who specialized in chip-inlay jewelry. His inlaid turquoise, coral, and silver pieces incorporated traditional Navajo designs. Singer gained acclaim as the originator of the chip inlay design. Because of this innovation, Tommy is considered by many as one of the greatest contemporary Indian jewelry silversmiths of our time. Even though he was world renowned, he worked on the Navajo reservation in a small studio surrounded with his family and other tribal members. The Singer family has been involved in silversmithing, stone and beadwork for a very long time, handing the art down from one generation to another. Tommy was a silversmith for over 50 years. He learned the art of silversmithing from his father when he was just 7 years old. His Father Tsinnigine Hathali was a Navajo Medicine man. Tommy incorporates many traditional sandpainting and rug designs of the Navajo People into his jewelry. Tommy began creating jewelry full-time at the age of 21. His early works were done in the silver overlay technique. His work soon began to feature Turquoise stones. While working with scrap turquoise chips, Tommy pioneered the technique of Chip inlay used by thousands of artists to this day. For many years Tommy and his brothers created Jewelry using the Chip inlay style. Later in life, Tommy had returned to his roots by creating Exquisite Silver Overlaid Jewelry with intricate designs. His current work often includes 14 Karat Gold Overlaid on Silver. Tommy also carved storyteller scenes and silver bead necklaces with tremendous skill. When asked about his work, Singer said, "Every piece is made with the various meanings from my traditional ways - the Navajo way of living. My father was asilversmith, too. He taught me, and wanted me to continue this trade. It was my father‘s dream that I learn to silversmith so that I could continue his beliefs." His work is well known internationally and is featured in a number of Indian art publications. One can easily recognize Tommys work. He marks his finished pieces with “T. Singer or with “T and a crescent moon. Whether Tommy created a bolo tie, buckle, ring, necklace, pendant, or bracelet, he stated that, “All my jewelry is made to satisfy my customer. Each piece is unique and is made very different. I try hard to make different styles and designs of my jewelry. His legacy of work will continue to live on for many years. In fact, Rosita (Rose) and the family have continued Tommys legacy by creating jewelry with his designs. Tommy and his wife Rose came up with a new hallmark before his death which is “T&R Singer. Once all of the items he made are sold, the family will be signing the new jewelry with the T&R Singer hallmark. His legacy of work will continue to live on for many years. All precious metals are tested and guaranteed. A Native American jewelry piece referred to as "silver" or "ingot" is guaranteed to be at least 90% silver. I rarely use the word "sterling" when referring to older Native American silver or really any older silver jewelry as silver contents vary and "sterling" is 92.5% silver. No older jewelry is going to be exactly 92.5% silver, some a little over, some a little under. It wasn‘t an exact thing with handmade jewelry. I‘ve seen thousands of pieces xrf‘d to prove this. Bracelets are photographed on a 6" women‘s wrist.

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Nelson Morgan Navajo sterling and turquoise kachina bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 39" total length. Sterling slide and tips.

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Ramone Platero - Carl Luthey sterling carved mother of pearl turquoise bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 42" total length. Sterling slide and tips. High quality vintage cord. The Mother of pear is rainbowy when subjected to light as it should be, it‘s just difficult to photograph and time is limited. Carl W Luthey in the 1960s the 70s had excellent Navajo Silversmiths working for him making the jewelry that he designed. Much of his jewelry has the leaf and flower design that was so popular then. Some of the artists that worked with him were did very distinctive and recognizable work. Some of those artists were Luke Billy Yazzie and Louise and Ramone Platero. The Carl Luthey Studio sign is a stick figure representing the designer instead of the maker. Sometimes, there will also be the artists sign as well. The head is a C, the arms are a W and the legs have an L in them. Carl passed away January 31, 1975 in Albuquerque, NM. Ramone Platero, Diné (Navajo) is presumably the first Navajo smith to use the leaf in silver jewelry. He has been an active silversmith since the early 1970s. Ramon is the son of Pablo Platero; brother of Dan Platero; husband of Lousie Platero; father of 10 daughters, 3 sons. Ramon‘s father was the famous Pablo Platero, one of the finest Navajo (Diné) silversmiths. Pablo taught his son, Ramone, who handmade his original tools.

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c1960 c-31 Zuni inlay sterling bolo tie with thunderbird. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 37" total length. Sterling slide and tips. Apparently unmarked.

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Vintage Southwestern sterling silver heart bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 38" total length. Sterling slide and tips. One tip slightly bent, no detectable markings. The stone is stone, but possibly howlite or something similar.

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1986 Huge 130ct Bisbee Turquoise sterling silver bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 39" total length. Sterling slide and tips. 100-150ct Vintage Large Bisbee Turquoise bolo tie. 77.5 grams total weight, if 1/3 of that is stone weight which is likely, that would be approximately 130 carat stone which is rather rare. Similar quality Bisbee sells for about $30/ct. One really cool thing about this bolo is it has the original owner‘s Name and 1986 Date inscribed on the back and Tombstone, AZ. Tombstone is 23 miles from Bisbee, AZ.

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Vintage Hopi Hopicrafts Bolo tie Sterling silver. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 40" total length. Sterling slide and tips. Very High quality with nice and heavy handmade tips. I could find no hallmark other than the Hopicrafts Hallmark.

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c1970 Vidal Aragon Kewa heavy sterling bolo tie with fancy overlay tips. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 41" total length. Sterling slide and tips. From Santo Domingo Pueblo, Vidal Aragon (1923-2015) translated pueblo life into intricate storyteller jewelry. He became internationally renown for his inventive silver and gold overlay designs. His representations of the elements of nature, animals and pueblo life are symbolic of the Indian way. One symbol refers to “everlasting happiness. Other common motifs are animals and the tracks they make and the blessing and nourishment of corn. An expert craftsman, Aragon drew each story strip with his saw blade and soldered it to a textured oxidized underlayer to illuminate the images. He often incorporated a trademark gold disk to represent the sun or moon. Vidal Aragon learned the overlay technique in the 1930s when he was a student at the Santa Fe Indian School. Before inventing the storyteller jewelry, he experimented with tufa casting and other metalworking techniques. He briefly lived in Scottsdale where he honed his skills as a shop smith. He has fond memories of the time he spent learning ballet as a young man in Phoenix. By the early 1940s, Vidal was already being recognized alongside such prominent smiths as Ambrose Roanhorse and Tom Burnsides for his innovative yet classical designs. Aragon found his true calling though when he began to translate his rich sense of the pueblo way of life into wearable stories, often full of his unique humor.

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c1960 c-31 Zuni inlay sterling knifewing figural bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 37" total length. Sterling slide and tips. Apparently unmarked.

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c1930‘s Concho - c1960 c-31 Sterling/turquoise hand stamped silver bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 40" total length. Sterling slide and tips. Extremely awesome heavy handmade tips, old concho from the second quarter of the 20th century turned into bolo right around 1960.

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c1960 c-31 Navajo sterling and green turquoise bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 38" total length. No detectable markings. Sterling slide and tips.

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c1950 Navajo silver rainbow man dancer bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 35" total length. No detectable markings. Sterling slide and tips.

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c1960 c-31 Navajo Brutalist sterling turquoise nugget bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 40" total length. No detectable markings. Sterling slide and tips. 1 5/8" tall slide, big round turquoise nugget. Some stable very tight hairlines in the stone that don‘t go all the way through to the edges.

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B&N Nastacio Zuni Sterling, turquoise, and coral bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 38" total length. Sterling slide and tips.

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Vintage Sterling silver Icarus flying into the sun Greek Mythology bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 37" total length. Sterling slide and tips. New old stock, never worn. Only 40 of these were made, not sure what they signify, but I have a few and each has a unique number less than 40, a / , then 40. Example 12/40. Likely from the last quarter of the 20th century.

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Large c1960 c-31 Zuni silver inlay turquoise snake eye border bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 38" total length. No detectable markings. 2.75" x 2.25" slide. Sterling slide and tips.

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Heavy Vintage sterling brutalist bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 35" total length. No detectable markings. Cord is very old but intact and should stay that way with careful use.

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c1960 c-31 Eldon James Hopi arrowhead form bear head bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 42" total length. No detectable markings. Cord is very old but intact and should stay that way with careful use.

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c1970 Frank Patania jr "Caballeros del Sol" Sterling/turquoise bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 38" total length. In 1927 Italian immigrant Frank Patania Sr. opened the Thunderbird Shop in Santa Fe which sold Native American handmade arts and crafts. Patania, a trained goldsmith and fine jewelry designer, had become enamored with Native American jewelry. He quickly turned his talents to designing and fabricating sterling silver and turquoise jewelry inspired by Native designs, developing a new type of Southwest jewelry, termed “Thunderbird style which combined Mediterranean elegance with traditional Native American materials. He became known for his exquisite craftsmanship and unique jewelry designs which displayed great attention to detail. As his business grew, Patania required assistance in the workshop and in 1932 hired Charles Begay, a skilled Navajo silversmith. He became the first of many Native Americans to work for the Patanias as silversmiths in the Thunderbird Shop in Santa Fe, and later also in Tucson. Some of these artists remained employed until retirement, while others, after becoming versed in the Thunderbird style, departed to work on their own, carrying with them the influence and inspiration of Patania family designs. Those who carried the Thunderbird style into their own successful careers were Lewis Lomay, Julian Lovato, Jimmie Herald and Harry Sakyesva, whose talents and body of work still resonate long after their passing. The history of the Cabaleros Del Sol- As retold by charter members Schuy Lininger and Stub Ashcraft In the mid 1920s, two doctors named Huett and Kline who specialized in the care of tubercular (TB) patients saw the need to begin touting the great dry heat of Tucson as the perfect place to be for people with lung problems. This need along with the desire of Tucson business people to get more people to visit and move to The Old Pueblo eventually evolved into an organization called the Tucson Sunshine Climate Club. Many years later, the visitors & Convention Bureau was added to the professional heading. For the next 37 years (1926- 1963), the Sunshine Climate Club grew as the premier organization to bring and develop new business to Tucson. The organization was funded in part by both the city of Tucson and Pima County. Some of the greatest early “City Fathers of Tucson served this group. As the Chamber of Commerce grew both the City and County decided to quit funding the Sunshine Climate Club as they felt there were some overlapping between the two organizations. So in 1963, two key people- Frank Drachman and Roy Miller convinced the entire Board of Directors of the Sunshine Climate Club to dissolve their Club and become a standing committee in the Tucson Chamber of Commerce. The group would be call the Caballeros Del Sol and Roy Miller (who ran the J.C. Penney store downtown) would become the first El Jefe. They put sunshine in cans, models in cactus “bathing suits and Tucson in the underwood of every travel writer in the country. “Nobody did the things we did to promote tourism says C.L. “Stubs Ashcraft, general manger back in the ‘50s of the old Tucson Sunshine Climate Club. Who else would: Scoop out the tops of two saguaro cactus arms, fashion them into a “bra, and have the end result modeled by a local high school girl? : Welcome the Cleveland Indians to town with smoke signals from atop “A Mountain? : Get the superintendent of Saguaro National Monument to draw beer from a cactus? How you gonna get “em out to the desert? With sunshine, sex and rootin tootin atmosphere. For 40 years, that was the winning formula used by the Tucson Sunshine Climate Club to bring visitors to town- until a merger put an end to all the good times. It began with a rivalry. “By 1920, Phoenixs population was the larger than Tucsons, says Roy P. Drachman, general manager of the Sunshine Climate Club, 1939- 1945. Naturally says Drachman, this “annoyed a few Tucson businessman. So car dealers Monte Mansfield and L.C. “Jessie James decided to form an organization to promote tourism. In 1922, the Tucson Sunshine Climate Club held its first meeting. Far from feeling usurped, the Chamber of Commerce welcomed the move, says Drachman. “There was a lot of overlap. Many of the same members served on both boards. Money came from local businesses, which bought up memberships, and from the city and county, which helped pay for advertising in publications across the country. Back then, Tucson was still considered a health mecca. “I think we spent more money in the American Medical Association Journal than any other publication, says Drachman. When he took over as manager in 1939, Drachman hired two photographers, Chuck Abbot and Robert Burns, who took pictures of prominent folk visiting the desert and then sent the photos to various news organizations, where they received wide play. “We had a clipping service, says Drachman. “We kept big sheets of brown paper covered with clippings we got back from photos we had sent out. The club also co- sponsored a modeling club, using high school girls, mainly from Tucson High, to sell the Old Pueblo. “Wed put them in a pair of boots, shorts, shirt and a hat and send them out in the desert with Ray Manley, says Ashcraft. “Wed put them up against a cactus or in a field of poppies, anything for publicity. The Clubs finest hour for cheesecake however, probably came during Drachmans reign. “We hollowed the tops out of a saguaro cactus and made a bra, says Drachman.“Then we took prickly pear cactus pads and cut all the thorns off and hung them on wire for a skirt. Then we put a model from Tucson High in that outfit and took her picture. Life magazine printed it, full page. By the time Ashcraft came on board as the general manager in 1952, the publicity machine was in high gear. “I used to lie awake at nights thinking of things to do. Such as passing out cans of “sunshine. Or posing a model in a $ 3,500.00 pair of mink “jeans. Or having the Cleveland Indians pull a stagecoach with their manager on board, cracking the whip. Naturally all of this was photographed for play in the Eastern papers. Ashcrafts golden moment may have come in 1955, when a group of travel writers arrived in town on a junket sponsored by American Airlines. “First thing we did was take them downtown and get them outfitted with jeans, shirts, boots and a hat, says Ashcraft. Then they took them to the Forty Niners Ranch for a party.“The next morning, most of these folks had hangovers like you couldnt believe, says Ashcraft. “Then we got them up on horses for a ride to Saguaro National Monument. By the time we got them there, their tongues were hanging out by a mile. What the writers didnt know was that a chuck wagon filled with draft beer had been set up at the monument. Standing next to the chuck wagon was a mannequin in a squaw dress, and next to the mannequin was a saguaro cactus, with a thin tube running through it. The tube was a conduit, allowing beer to flow from a keg in the chuck wagon to a spigot on the outside of the cactus. “After we got there, we had John Lewis, who was the superintendent of the monument, give this talk on the flora and the fauna of the desert, says Ashcraft. “It was the most boring thing you had ever heard. Then he bent over and the mannequins hand fell on the spigot and the beer started to flow. You should have seen the eyes of those travel writers. As with most of the clubs stunts, this one, says Ashcraft, followed the script “right down to a gnats eyebrow. Such was not the case, however, the day the club welcomed the Cleveland Indians to town with a smoke- signal greeting. Every year when the Cleveland Indians came to town for spring training, we tried to top what we had done the year before, says Ashcraft. “So I thought, ‘Ah, lets welcome ‘em with smoke signals. “I went down to Indian Village Trading Post. They had an Indian there who did sand painting, and I said, ‘Freddy I dont remember his last name- ‘Do you know how to make smoke signals? He said yes, ‘Sure, so we arranged it. Ashcraft also arranged for American Airlines, which was bringing the team to town, to fly directly over “A Mountain where the signals would be sent. The day arrived. “It was a nasty damn day, recalls Ashcraft. “The wind must have been blowing about 100 miles per hour. And of course we had invited the local press and photographers there. Ray Manley was there and for some reason he had brought along a couple of old tires. It never dawned on any of us the consequences of what we were about to do. “So we got the fire started and Ray threw the tires on it and the black smoke started pouring out. Then the sheriffs car came up the road, its lights blinking. They didnt want to come all the way up, and they were hollering at us to come down. We were scared to death. “Well, people were calling all over. “A Mountain used to be a volcano and people thought it was erupting again. “Anyway, the time came for the plane to come over. Freddy has the blanket. Here comes the plane. Freddy and his friend put the blanket down over the tire- and it burned a hole right in the middle of the damned blanket. “I said, ‘Freddy, what in the hell happened? He said, ‘I forgot. We were supposed to wet the blanket. In 1962, the Tucson Sunshine Climate Club merged with the Chamber of Commerce Industrial Development Board, in an effort to strengthen the chamber and do away with duplication of effort. “That killed the club, says Ashcraft. But not its past deeds. “When we started out, we were getting the tourists, says Ashcraft. “They liked it and came back as winter visitors. Then they decide to retire here. We had businessmen come here, decide to have a convention, then relocate their businesses here. Now, there isnt the Western atmosphere anymore. Asked if perhaps the Tucson Sunshine Climate Club did its job to well, Ashcraft sits and reflects by the pool of a midtown hotel, a hundred feet away from the rush of the traffic along Alvernon Way. Finally, the words come: “If I could do it all over again, I wouldnt do it. I loved the Old Pueblo.

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c1960 c-31 Alice Leekya Homer Zuni sterling turquoise fishscale inlay bolo tie, unmarked - attributed. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 40" total length. No detectable markings. Cord is very old but intact and should stay that way with careful use.

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Gary and Elsie Yoyokiei Hopi large sterling bolo tie in overlay style. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 38" total length. Yoyokie, Gary and Elsie Gary and Elsie Yoyokie live on Third Mesa, Arizona at Kykotsmovi on the Hopi reservation. During their distinguished careers as silversmiths, the Yoyokies have won many awards at major shows and exhibits, including the Santa Fe Indian Market, where their unique jewelry has won dozens of ribbons, including Best of Division awards. The Yoyokies were selected as Fellowship winners by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts in 1993 in recognition of their beautifully designed and crafted silverwork. They were also honored by the Museum of Northern Arizona, which presented the Yoyokies with the Charles Loloma Award of Excellence. They have won many ribbons, including Best of Division at the Heard Museum Indian Fair and Market, Best of Show at the Twin Cities Indian Market in Minneapolis, as well as awards from the Eight Northern Pueblos Indian Arts and Crafts Exhibit, the Sedona Hopi Show, the Lawrence, Kansas Museum of Anthropopogy Indian Arts Show, the American Indian Art Festival in Dallas and numerous other major shows.

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c1950 Edward Beyuka Zuni Roadrunner carved bolo tie sterling. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 37" total length. Unmarked to the best of my knowledge. I could not lift the cord up in the center without risking damaging it. Attributed as I‘ve seen similar carved later examples that were signed. This one is slightly different, but it‘s also earlier than any I have seen recorded.

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c1950 Navajo silver thunderbird bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 38" total length. No detectable markings. Cord is very old but intact and should stay that way with careful use.

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c1970 William Zunie sterling silver Zuni channel inlay bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. Hallmarked as shown, WM Zunie, 40" total length.

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c1980‘s Navajo sterling/gold filled eagle bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. No hallmarks 38" total length.

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vintage Frank Patania Thunderbird Shop "Caballeros del Sol" Sterling/turquoise bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 38" total length. In 1927 Italian immigrant Frank Patania Sr. opened the Thunderbird Shop in Santa Fe which sold Native American handmade arts and crafts. Patania, a trained goldsmith and fine jewelry designer, had become enamored with Native American jewelry. He quickly turned his talents to designing and fabricating sterling silver and turquoise jewelry inspired by Native designs, developing a new type of Southwest jewelry, termed “Thunderbird style which combined Mediterranean elegance with traditional Native American materials. He became known for his exquisite craftsmanship and unique jewelry designs which displayed great attention to detail. As his business grew, Patania required assistance in the workshop and in 1932 hired Charles Begay, a skilled Navajo silversmith. He became the first of many Native Americans to work for the Patanias as silversmiths in the Thunderbird Shop in Santa Fe, and later also in Tucson. Some of these artists remained employed until retirement, while others, after becoming versed in the Thunderbird style, departed to work on their own, carrying with them the influence and inspiration of Patania family designs. Those who carried the Thunderbird style into their own successful careers were Lewis Lomay, Julian Lovato, Jimmie Herald and Harry Sakyesva, whose talents and body of work still resonate long after their passing. The history of the Cabaleros Del Sol- As retold by charter members Schuy Lininger and Stub Ashcraft In the mid 1920s, two doctors named Huett and Kline who specialized in the care of tubercular (TB) patients saw the need to begin touting the great dry heat of Tucson as the perfect place to be for people with lung problems. This need along with the desire of Tucson business people to get more people to visit and move to The Old Pueblo eventually evolved into an organization called the Tucson Sunshine Climate Club. Many years later, the visitors & Convention Bureau was added to the professional heading. For the next 37 years (1926- 1963), the Sunshine Climate Club grew as the premier organization to bring and develop new business to Tucson. The organization was funded in part by both the city of Tucson and Pima County. Some of the greatest early “City Fathers of Tucson served this group. As the Chamber of Commerce grew both the City and County decided to quit funding the Sunshine Climate Club as they felt there were some overlapping between the two organizations. So in 1963, two key people- Frank Drachman and Roy Miller convinced the entire Board of Directors of the Sunshine Climate Club to dissolve their Club and become a standing committee in the Tucson Chamber of Commerce. The group would be call the Caballeros Del Sol and Roy Miller (who ran the J.C. Penney store downtown) would become the first El Jefe. They put sunshine in cans, models in cactus “bathing suits and Tucson in the underwood of every travel writer in the country. “Nobody did the things we did to promote tourism says C.L. “Stubs Ashcraft, general manger back in the ‘50s of the old Tucson Sunshine Climate Club. Who else would: : Scoop out the tops of two saguaro cactus arms, fashion them into a “bra, and have the end result modeled by a local high school girl? : Welcome the Cleveland Indians to town with smoke signals from atop “A Mountain? : Get the superintendent of Saguaro National Monument to draw beer from a cactus? How you gonna get “em out to the desert? With sunshine, sex and rootin tootin atmosphere. For 40 years, that was the winning formula used by the Tucson Sunshine Climate Club to bring visitors to town- until a merger put an end to all the good times. It began with a rivalry. “By 1920, Phoenixs population was the larger than Tucsons, says Roy P. Drachman, general manager of the Sunshine Climate Club, 1939- 1945. Naturally says Drachman, this “annoyed a few Tucson businessman. So car dealers Monte Mansfield and L.C. “Jessie James decided to form an organization to promote tourism. In 1922, the Tucson Sunshine Climate Club held its first meeting. Far from feeling usurped, the Chamber of Commerce welcomed the move, says Drachman. “There was a lot of overlap. Many of the same members served on both boards. Money came from local businesses, which bought up memberships, and from the city and county, which helped pay for advertising in publications across the country. Back then, Tucson was still considered a health mecca. “I think we spent more money in the American Medical Association Journal than any other publication, says Drachman. When he took over as manager in 1939, Drachman hired two photographers, Chuck Abbot and Robert Burns, who took pictures of prominent folk visiting the desert and then sent the photos to various news organizations, where they received wide play. “We had a clipping service, says Drachman. “We kept big sheets of brown paper covered with clippings we got back from photos we had sent out. The club also co- sponsored a modeling club, using high school girls, mainly from Tucson High, to sell the Old Pueblo. “Wed put them in a pair of boots, shorts, shirt and a hat and send them out in the desert with Ray Manley, says Ashcraft. “Wed put them up against a cactus or in a field of poppies, anything for publicity. The Clubs finest hour for cheesecake however, probably came during Drachmans reign. “We hollowed the tops out of a saguaro cactus and made a bra, says Drachman.“Then we took prickly pear cactus pads and cut all the thorns off and hung them on wire for a skirt. Then we put a model from Tucson High in that outfit and took her picture. Life magazine printed it, full page. By the time Ashcraft came on board as the general manager in 1952, the publicity machine was in high gear. “I used to lie awake at nights thinking of things to do. Such as passing out cans of “sunshine. Or posing a model in a $ 3,500.00 pair of mink “jeans. Or having the Cleveland Indians pull a stagecoach with their manager on board, cracking the whip. Naturally all of this was photographed for play in the Eastern papers. Ashcrafts golden moment may have come in 1955, when a group of travel writers arrived in town on a junket sponsored by American Airlines. “First thing we did was take them downtown and get them outfitted with jeans, shirts, boots and a hat, says Ashcraft. Then they took them to the Forty Niners Ranch for a party. “The next morning, most of these folks had hangovers like you couldnt believe, says Ashcraft. “Then we got them up on horses for a ride to Saguaro National Monument. By the time we got them there, their tongues were hanging out by a mile. What the writers didnt know was that a chuck wagon filled with draft beer had been set up at the monument. Standing next to the chuck wagon was a mannequin in a squaw dress, and next to the mannequin was a saguaro cactus, with a thin tube running through it. The tube was a conduit, allowing beer to flow from a keg in the chuck wagon to a spigot on the outside of the cactus. “After we got there, we had John Lewis, who was the superintendent of the monument, give this talk on the flora and the fauna of the desert, says Ashcraft. “It was the most boring thing you had ever heard. Then he bent over and the mannequins hand fell on the spigot and the beer started to flow. You should have seen the eyes of those travel writers. As with most of the clubs stunts, this one, says Ashcraft, followed the script “right down to a gnats eyebrow. Such was not the case, however, the day the club welcomed the Cleveland Indians to town with a smoke- signal greeting. “Every year when the Cleveland Indians came to town for spring training, we tried to top what we had done the year before, says Ashcraft. “So I thought, ‘Ah, lets welcome ‘em with smoke signals. “I went down to Indian Village Trading Post. They had an Indian there who did sand painting, and I said, ‘Freddy I dont remember his last name- ‘Do you know how to make smoke signals? He said yes, ‘Sure, so we arranged it. Ashcraft also arranged for American Airlines, which was bringing the team to town, to fly directly over “A Mountain where the signals would be sent. The day arrived. “It was a nasty damn day, recalls Ashcraft. “The wind must have been blowing about 100 miles per hour. And of course we had invited the local press and photographers there. Ray Manley was there and for some reason he had brought along a couple of old tires. It never dawned on any of us the consequences of what we were about to do. “So we got the fire started and Ray threw the tires on it and the black smoke started pouring out. Then the sheriffs car came up the road, its lights blinking. They didnt want to come all the way up, and they were hollering at us to come down. We were scared to death. “Well, people were calling all over. “A Mountain used to be a volcano and people thought it was erupting again. “Anyway, the time came for the plane to come over. Freddy has the blanket. Here comes the plane. Freddy and his friend put the blanket down over the tire- and it burned a hole right in the middle of the damned blanket. “I said, ‘Freddy, what in the hell happened? He said, ‘I forgot. We were supposed to wet the blanket. In 1962, the Tucson Sunshine Climate Club merged with the Chamber of Commerce Industrial Development Board, in an effort to strengthen the chamber and do away with duplication of effort. “That killed the club, says Ashcraft. But not its past deeds. “When we started out, we were getting the tourists, says Ashcraft. “They liked it and came back as winter visitors. Then they decide to retire here. We had businessmen come here, decide to have a convention, then relocate their businesses here. Now, there isnt the Western atmosphere anymore. Asked if perhaps the Tucson Sunshine Climate Club did its job to well, Ashcraft sits and reflects by the pool of a midtown hotel, a hundred feet away from the rush of the traffic along Alvernon Way. Finally, the words come: “If I could do it all over again, I wouldnt do it. I loved the Old Pueblo.

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Heavy Vintage sterling brutalist bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 40" total length. Illegibly signed on back.

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Michael Tahe Navajo sterling sunface bolo tie. Solid sterling silver, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. 38" total length.

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c1950‘s Modernist silver malachite bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Some natural fissures in stone only superficial and not noticeable in real life when worn, fully functional with overall attractive appearance. Sterling tips and bolo slide. 37" total length, unmarked slide but tips marked sterling.

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c1970 Navajo sterling turquoise, and coral feather design bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. 35" total length, unmarked.

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c1980 Navajo sterling and onyx bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Some bends to tips, fully functional with overall attractive appearance. Sterling tips and bolo slide. 37" total length, unmarked.

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c1950‘s small Sterling and turquoise bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Fully functional with overall attractive appearance. Sterling tips and bolo slide. 36" total length, slide marked sterling.

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c1960 c-31 sterling/turquoise rope edge bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. Hallmarked as shown. From huge collection so well preserved, 40" total length. some wear to cord.

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Vintage Petrified Dinosaur Bone sterling channel inlay bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. Hallmarked as shown. Exremely high quality. From huge collection so well preserved, 38" total length.

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Floyd Namingha Lomakuyvaya Hopi Overlay bolo tie sterling silver. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. Hallmarked as shown. Exremely high quality. From huge collection so well preserved, 40" total length.

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Herman Hoskie Navajo Sterling petrified Palmwood bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. Hallmarked as shown. Exremely high quality. From huge collection so well preserved, 40" total length.

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Weaver Selina Hopi Overlay bolo tie sterling silver. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. Hallmarked as shown. Exremely high quality. From huge collection so well preserved, 40" total length. Weaver Selina (1944-) Hopi jeweler Weaver Selina began his career in 1967 working and studying at the Hopicrafts shop, learning from Bernard Dawahoya and other experienced jewelers. He is from the village of Shungopavi at Second Mesa and now has his own outlet where he sells his creations and those of other Hopi artists.

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Large Vintage Zuni sterling quail bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. Unmarked, I have had a similar pin marked P Vicenti Zuni. Exremely high quality. From huge collection so well preserved, 40" total length.

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Cedric Navenma Kuwaninvaya Hopi Overlay bolo tie sterling silver. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. Hallmarked as shown. Exremely high quality. From huge collection so well preserved, 42" total length.

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Victoria Ukestine Zuni Sunface bolo tie sterling silver channel inlay. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. Hallmarked as shown. From huge collection so well preserved, 38" total length.

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Vintage Native American sterling, turquoise/coral bear paw bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. Hallmarked as shown. From huge collection so well preserved, 41" total length.

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c1950 Zuni knifewing bolo tie sterling channel inlay. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Very nice handmade tips, decent size for this period.

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c1960 c-31 Navajo silver, coral, and turquoise bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide with base metal clips on back.

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1990‘s Signed Hopi overlay bolo tie sterling silver. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. Hallmarked as shown, possibly FHC on bottom right of reverse pic. From huge collection, only worn once or twice, 41" total length.

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c1970 Large Benny Sandoval Navajo spiderweb turquoise cluster bolo tie fancy tip. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide with base metal clips on back. Hallmarked as shown, signed Benny Sandoval. Stones are either #8 Mine or Red Web Kingman, very high grade Natural American Turquoise. Tips out of this world. 40" total length.

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1990‘s Caroline Fred Hopi overlay Antelope bolo tie sterling silver. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). No damage, sterling tips and bolo slide. No detectable hallmarks, purchased as a work of Caroline Fred in the early 1990‘s. Exremely high quality. From huge collection, only worn once or twice, 43" total length.

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c1970 Large Archie Henderson Tufa Cast silver Easter Blue turquoise bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics. Clip on back is not sterling, tips and slide are sterling. I don‘t know much about Archie Henderson other than he was not very prolific and he he used really high grade natural American Turquoise, he even worked with some Lander Blue. He worked in both silver and gold c1970‘s.

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c1960 c-31 Alberto Contreras Modernist silver/onyx bolo tie w/fancy tips. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Clip on back is not sterling, tips and slide are sterling. Alberto Contreras (1949-1994) was taught silversmithing, by Frank Patania Sr., prior to 1949. In 1949 Alberto Contreras started his silversmithing shop, which would be one of three main, custom silversmithing shops, in Tucson, during that era: 1. Thunderbird Shop - Patania 2. Alberto Contreras 3. Carlos Diaz

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c1960 c-31 Huge Navajo silver, turquoise, and coral bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics (scale tared out with containter, weight shown is just the bolo). Clip on back is not sterling, tips and slide are sterling. Apparently unmarked, some bends to tips.

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c1960 c-31 Zuni silver and turquoise cluster bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics. Clip on back is not sterling, tips and slide are sterling. Bottom stone with old fracture, some dents to tips..

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c1960 c-31 Navajo Overlay turquoise Large bolo tie sterling silver. Solid sterling, illegible to me hallmark, weight and measurements in pics. Clip on back is not sterling, tips and slide are sterling.

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Stan Davidson (1933-2012) Brutalist sterling picture jasper bolo tie. Solid sterling bolo slide, base metal tips and catch on back 36" long, appears unworn

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c1960 c-31 Ted Edaakie Zuni Owl sterling channel inlay bolo tie with fancy tips 39" long with no issues, no identifying markings on the silver. Attributed to Theodore Edaakie, pins and bolos in this design have surfaced signed, typically later examples. 48.2 grams Ted Edaakie, who began producing in about 1930. Theodore Edaakie, called Ted Edaakie, had work represented in the C.G.Wallace catalog, the Museum of The American Indian Smithsonian Institution, The Museum of New Mexico and The Heard Museum in Arizona. Edaakie won several awards for his work. The C.G. Wallace catalog also reports the sale of two of his roadrunner pins. In the 1930‘s and 1940‘s Theodore Edaakie was employed as an artist at C. G. Wallace‘s Trading Post at Zuni. Mosaic and channel inlay pieces that Theodore made were collected by Wallace and several were sold at the 1975 Sotheby‘s Auction of Wallace‘s collection. He was one of the famous Edaakie brothers. He was a superb lapidarist as well as silversmith All precious metals are tested and guaranteed. A Native American jewelry piece referred to as "silver" or "ingot" is guaranteed to be at least 90% silver. I rarely use the word "sterling" when referring to older Native American silver or really any older silver jewelry as silver contents vary and "sterling" is 92.5% silver. No older jewelry is going to be exactly 92.5% silver, some a little over, some a little under. It wasn‘t an exact thing with handmade jewelry. I‘ve seen thousands of pieces xrf‘d to prove this. Bracelets are photographed on a 6" women‘s wrist.

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c1970 Jessie Claw Navajo sterling and turquoise bolo tie. Solid sterling, marked with artists hallmark only, weight and measurements in pics. Clip on back is not sterling, tips and slide are sterling.

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c1970 Zuni sunface sterling inlay bolo tie v. Solid sterling, unmarked, weight and measurements in pics. Clip on back is not sterling, tips and slide are sterling.

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c1970 Benson Yazzie Navajo sterling, turquoise/branch coral bolo tie. Solid sterling, unmarked, weight and measurements in pics. Clip on back is not sterling, tips and slide are sterling.

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c1980 GJ Navajo sterling and turquoise bolo tie 38" long, weight and measurements in pics, solid sterling. Marked as shown.

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Large c1960 c-31 Robert and Bernice Leekya bolo tie sterling/turquoise, 44" long, weight and measurements in pics. Solid sterling slide and tips. Non-sterling Bennett clip. Robert and Bernice Leekya, Zuni Pueblo Jewelers Husband and wife Robert and Bernice Leekya from Zuni Pueblo are known for their bold turquoise nugget jewelry and channel inlay. Robert (1934-) and Bernice Leekya have been making jewelry since 1953. Robert is the son of famous fetish carver Leekya Deyuse and learned his craft from his father as a young man.

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