Preston Monongye (Hopi) (1927-1987) Tufa Cast Silver David Tsikewa fetish jar. 4.75" tall x 3 5/8" wide x 716 grams. 4 very well carved fetishes on the exterior of the box, one loose fetish as shown inside the box, and one fetish inside the lid. I was told by an extremely reliable source that these fetish's should be attributed to David Tsikewa (1915-1971), which makes perfect sense. These are amazing, I‘ve sold millions of dollars worth of Native American jewelry and never once suggested one belonged in a museum. This is 100% a museum piece. Amazing piece likely from the third quarter of the 20th century.
This is originally from Manny Goodman's private collection, owner of Covered Wagon Trading Post, Albuquerque, NM on Old Route 66, he had been dealing in and collecting Native American art since the 1940's. I have no paperwork to verify this but would stake my life on it's authenticity.
Preston Monongye, Hopi Pueblo Jeweler
Hopi Pueblo artist Preston Monongye hallmark signature."Preston Monongye‘s jewelry is among the most sought after and highly valued of all Native American jewelry, rivaled only by his neighbor Charles Loloma, Lee Yazzie, and a small circle of other top artists.
"His birth in 1927 remains shrouded in mystery. In 1934 during the Great Depression, his birth mother, reportedly a California Mission Indian woman from Los Angeles, visited the Hopi village of Hotevilla on Third Mesa. For some unknown reason, she left little Preston with a powerful Hopi Wutsim Priest, David Monongye, and his wife Nora. They adopted Preston and raised him as a Hopi. Grandfather David once explained to me. ‘Hopi is a philosophy, a way of life, meaning the ‘People of Peace.‘ You may be red, white, yellow, or black-it doesn‘t matter-if you‘re ‘Person of Peace‘-you‘re Hopi. In this spirit, Preston was raised in a very traditional Hopi family who were fine artists: jewelers, textiles weavers, basketmakers, and wood carvers.
In 1934, at the age of seven, Preston Monongye moved from Los Angeles to Hopi Pueblo. His father was Hispanic. His mother was a California Mission Indian. A Hopi family from Hotevilla, AZ, Nora and David Monongye, highly respected traditional elders, adopted him. Living in Hopi Pueblo was a dramatic change from being in urban LA during the great Depression. They supported themselves by growing vegetable gardens. Young Preston was introduced to the world of Kachina and ceremonial dancers, which had a profound influence on his art. By age nine, he became an apprentice to his uncle, Gene Pooyama, a master silversmith, and painter. Preston also learned much about traditional Hopi lifeways. For a decade he enjoyed this peaceful way of life.
"As a child, Katsinas gave little Preston a bow, arrows, and a lightning stick, like other Hopi boys. Preston was initiated into the Hopi Katsina Society. While sitting in Grandfather David‘s kiva, he learned to carve and weave by watching Hopi priests. Preston was nine when he helped Grandfather David melt silver coins to make jewelry. He learned traditional techniques of Hopi silversmiths practiced by David and their neighbors, Ralph Tawangyawma, Dan Katchongva, and Allen Pooyouma. They were known for silver ingot, hand wrought, heavy stampwork and twist wire jewelry set with high quality, natural turquoise.
Preston emerged in the mid-60s and 70s as a top designer of what he dubbed, "The New Jewelry." Preston made many contributions to the Indian art world. In 1970, he served on the Board of the Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial in Gallup, NM He lectured widely at schools, organizations, and conferences. Preston won many awards at Indian art shows. Lee Yazzie, the respected Navajo Jeweler, and collaborator with Preston, concluded: "Preston was a true artist."As a teenager, Preston left Hopi Pueblo to serve in the US military during World War II and was a Paratrooper and served as a medic in the South Pacific. Later he served in Korea."Preston‘s uncle, Gene Pooyouma, devoted the most time to helping him to make his first jewelry." Preston, born in 1927, died in 1991 at the age of 64 years.
David Tsikewa (1915-1971) brought a previously unseen delicacy to the art of fetish carving. His pieces have a sweet, gentle quality that distinguishes them from the works of his contemporaries.
Tsikewa came from a relatively small family by Zuni standards. Lugya, his father and mother, had three other children, Lorna Quam (sister-in-law to famed jeweler Annie Gasper Quam), Ida Eriacho, and Sadie Epaloose. Tsikewa and his wife Mary had eight children of their own: Bill, Delano, Lavina Kaskalla, Jennie, Rudolph (Rudy), David Jr., Marvin, and Annette. Born in 1915, David passed away from a heart attack in 1970.
Tsikewa learned silversmithing from the renowned Horace Iule in about 1937 and appears on John Adair's 1940 census as a silversmith under the name David Siaekewa. He made inlay butterflies and by the late 1940s was known for special order items, particularly bolos and buckles, in which he used turquoise to work customers' names in channel inlay. Dude Kirk, Gallup, NM Indian trader, marketed most of Tsikewa's work at that time. In the mid-1940s, Ruth Kirk asked him to carve birds to be strung on necklaces, which was the beginning of Tsikewa's beautiful and delicate fetish necklaces.
Although he never gave up silversmithing completely, and in later years did inlay for Hopi/Mission jeweler Preston Monongye, by the mid- to late-1950s Tsikewa emphasized carving. He continued to make jewelry for Dude Kirk and Charles and Pat Kelsey, while also stringing and carving free-standing fetishes for Leon and Ruth Ingraham, the Kirks, C. G. Wallace, and Joe Tanner. In 1959 Tanner, who considers Tsikewa to have been his best friend at Zuni Pueblo, commissioned him to make the pieces for a chess set. One of Tsikewa's most elaborate creations ever, the set includes a board with inlaid squares of white shell and turquoise by Francis Leekya, the son of Leekya Deyuse. In 1966 Tanner organized the Heard Museum's Zuni Show, which featured Tsikewa's work. Tanner bought stringing fetishes from Tsikewa for a dollar apiece and had them custom-made into necklaces for buyers at the show.
Tsikewa's daughter Lavina maintains that no one specifically taught him to carve, but his son Bill says that he was influenced by father-in-law Teddy Weahkee. Tsikewa at first worked with hand tools, but quickly converted to electric tools which enabled him to achieve the delicacy for which his carvings are known. Tsikewa earned his living almost exclusively through his art. According to his son he sometimes signed his fetishes with his cattle brand, a "spear D." A silver tag stamped "David" often adorned his fetish necklaces.
David Tsikewa's fetishes range from fairly simple to quite detailed. His strung fetish birds display a unique angle to the wing that distinguishes them from birds made by the rest of his family. His four-footed creatures give the impression that they are coming to a quick stop. Most have darkened, drilled eyes and few have bundles. In almost all cases, Tsikewa's approach is exemplified by beautiful polishing. He also carved animals that were uncommon for the time, producing probably the largest menagerie of any carver in his era. On rare occasions Tsikewa, like some of his peers, created detailed human figures.
Today, David Tsikewa's family continues his tradition. His wife Mary made fetishes until her death in 1986. Their children all carved fetishes, and some even bested their father's work in juried art shows. This proud family heritage remains with Bill, Lavina, Jennie, and Annette, who still produce diverse, top-quality work.
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