Bidspirit auction | Vintage Lewis Lomay Hopi Sterling

Vintage Lewis Lomay Hopi Sterling Silver Cuff - Marked on the interior of the cuff.    Size: 6 1/2” Circumference w/ 3/4” Opening  Width: 1 1/4”  Total Weight: 38.7g   Condition: Minor scratches to the surface. Minor tarnishing. Please see images for details.    Artist Bio: Lewis Lomay was born Lomayesva at Old Oraibi on Hopi's Third Mesa and shortened the name when he began working in Santa Fe. He studied painting at the Albuquerque Indian School and learned metalwork at the Santa Fe Indian School under the Navajo silversmith Ambrose Roanhorse, who started his students on copper and brass before letting them near silver. He then spent many years at the Thunderbird Shop, the Santa Fe studio of the Italian-born silversmith Frank Patania, and later worked at the Rainbow Man. That mix of training shows in the work. Lomay is remembered for jewelry of clean, modern design with a European influence, in fabricated silver and overlay set with turquoise and coral, and for the snake that runs through every version of his hallmark, alone on his early pieces and paired with an L or LL later on. He worked from the 1930s until his death in 1996 and taught his children Irvin and Peggy Lomay, who carried the work into a second generation, and a third through his grandson James Rawn Lomay. This cuff carries his mark on the interior.