Perry Null Trading

  Looking at the small black and white photo on page eighty-four of the famous C. G. Wallace sale catalogue from 1975, it is difficult to understand how this inlayed figure has become the iconic work of the master stone cutter Leo Poblano. 

The “Greatest Generation” got the name because of the hardships they lived through during the Great Depression and the service and community they demonstrated during World War II. Gallup, New Mexico resident Sally Noe is part of this generation and has shown those great attributes during her lifetime. She is known for giving Downtown Gallup walking tours as well as being the expert local historian. If you want to know something about Gallup, New Mexico she would be the one to ask.

We complain all the time about so many silversmiths deliberately not signing their work well up into the Fifties and how nice it would be if everyone had marked their pieces, but that is not always correct. The signature of two letters LL has two or three takers at any moment, though the two most prominent ones are both gone.

During what I have dubbed the “Golden Age” in Zuni—the Forties and Fifties—there were many artists who did it all, finally picking the talent most lucrative—usually jewelry work. Even then they often still had to have a “real” job to support their families.

The horse is a very popular design in Zuni jewelry but they can be confusing if they are not cleanly signed. Two types are especially difficult. Overlay inlay—once called Zuni inlay because nobody else did it—would be difficult to attribute if they are not signed.

The bolo tie has nothing to do with the Argentine throwing weapon that consists of three round stones tied together with leather thongs. With that thing around your neck you were in trouble. It was also not invented by some fellow in Arizona with a good imagination in 1940 something. In fact, the bolo tie has been around in some form for many years

Most of the public information dealing with C. G. Wallace seems to date from the article by Mike Tharp that appeared in the August 1974 issue of Arizona Highways. The problem with that piece is that Wallace himself was the only source for the information there.

Up front, we are talking about three hundredths of one percent between sterling and coin. In her 1936 pamphlet on Navajo silver, Margery Bedinger gives three lengthy paragraphs—half a page—to explaining the difference between sterling silver and coin silver.

In the 1940 Federal census Frank Vacit (25) was living in the household of Old Man Leekya, married to his eldest daughter Elizabeth (21). Leekya was the only member of the family listed as a silversmith. Frank gave his occupation as “unpaid family farm worker” and his income for the year $180. But under “other income” he checked “yes”. There is no explanation.

Most chroniclers of the Spanish invasion, several attempts over two centuries, found the subject of turquoise irresistible. The Zunis were imagined long before they were found. The magic number was seven, and the Spanish tried over an over to find the “seven islands of Atlantis, seven great caves, and, of course, the “Seven Cities of Cibola” where there were vast stores of gold and turquoise. Boy were they disappointed.

The earliest Zuni maker of jewelry who can be identified with certainty is Juan De Dios, who taught his nephew Dan Simplicio Sr. and several other Zunis. Juan remains mysterious but Lee Weebothe remembers him well and has told me some great stories. There are two Juan De Dioses in the 1885 census, both born in 1876. De Dios manages to avoid being listed in most of the later censuses.

While snakes do not qualify as a popular Zuni design they are interesting for that reason—why were they not more desirable?