Description
c1970 39" Large Ray Lovato (b. 1946) Kewa Sterling high grade turquoise bolo tie. Solid sterling, weight and measurements in pics. Amazing bolo circa 1970.
Lovato, Ray
Ray Lovato - Did some silversmithing early in his career up until the 70‘s, now Ray Lovato is Americas premier artist creator of hand-ground turquoise beads called heishi. A native Kewa speaker, Ray is from Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico. Descended from a long line of jewelers, he learned the craft from his parents, Ike and Tonita Lovato, beginning his artistic career at age eleven.
Born in 1946, Lovato served three tours in Vietnam, and upon returning to the U.S., he began making beads in the old style, using high-grade natural turquoise. At a time when others were creating their lapidary necklaces with machines, using cheaper stabilized or treated turquoise, Ray Lovato continued to work in the traditional manner, individually handcrafting every bead or disc in his necklaces.
The creation of turquoise beads requires patience and great attention to detail. The tiny beads are drilled and smoothed against a turning stone wheel, which reduces the weight of the expensive turquoise by 60 to 70%. Few artisans still follow the Lovato familys commitment to traditional ways, a practice Ray learned from his parents and is passing along to his own children and grandchildren.
