Description
c1950 Zuni Knifewing bolo tie sterling inlay 35" long, weight and measurements in pics. Slide in good condition, some wear to cord shown.
"Lawrence Saufkie (1935-2011), Hopi Pueblo, Bear Clan, was born at the Grand Canyon while his father, Paul Saufkie, worked there for the Fred Harvey Company. By the time Lawrence was thirteen, his father started teaching him the basics of silversmithing. Stamped copper buttons were some of his first products. Within the next year or two, Saufkie was selling jewelry of his own creation at Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial and, by age twenty, he would have his own booth. Once married in 1953, Saufkie turned to silverwork as a full-time occupation. He then joined the Hopi Silvercraft Cooperative Guild and started using his trademark of a bear shortly thereafter. He left the guild a few years later, stating, in 1975, that he preferred to work for himself with the ability to sell his jewelry where he chose.
Saufkie started winning awards as early as 1958. He exhibited at his first Indian Market in 1962, and his reputation grew as he began winning top honors at southwest shows in the late 1960s and early 1970s. By 1975 he was having difficulty keeping up with the demand for his work." [Messier, 2014:126]
