Manuel Hoyungowa (1953-2011 - Hopi Sterling Silver Round Pendant Butterfly 1.25\" For Sale

This sterling silver pendant has been beautifully crafted by the Hopi artists Manuel and Karen Hoyungwa. The pendant shows a butterfly that stands out against the etched background. The pendant measures 1.25\" tall (including the sterling loop at the top). It is signed with Manuel and Karen\'s raincloud hallmark and stamped sterling. The pendant weighs approximately 4.6 grams.
This pendant is vintage-new and in excellent condition. It has never been worn. It came out of the old inventory of a trading post here in Sedona.

Manuel Hoyungowa (Hoyungwa) has been active since the 1970s and is a multiple award winner. He is known for his silver on silver overlay jewelry. He was a student of his uncle, master silversmith, Preston Monongye. Manuel collaborates with his wife Karen Hoyungowa.

Throughout the 40 years that I have been in business, I have purchased jewelry from pawn shops throughout the Southwest that had collections of dead pawn. Most of these pawn shops and trading posts are now closed. The Native American would pawn his jewelry for immediate cash. The shop would hold it and charge interest until he could reclaim it. Dead pawn are the pieces that were never retrieved. Old Pawn Jewelry typically dates from the early 1900s to the 1970s. Most of the early pieces are not signed because it wasn\'t the Native American tradition to sign the pieces they crafted. Also, the turquoise in old pawn is turquoise that you can\'t get anymore because many of the mines have closed. And, the red and orange coral is rare because of the coral bleaching which is happening today.