David Tsikewa — Zuni Silversmith
David Tsikewa carved turquoise into fetishes and strung them into award-winning necklaces. Ray Manley's Collecting Southwestern Indian Arts & Crafts shows an "Award-winning seven-strand Zuni fetish by David Tsikewa" (Manley 1979, p. 43), and Joseph Stacey's Turquoise Blue Book and Indian Jewelry Digest calls a seven-strand piece of his a "prize winner" (Stacey 1975, p. 49).
William and Sarah Turnbaugh show turquoise bluebirds he carved "shortly before his death in 1970" (Turnbaugh and Turnbaugh 2007, p. 88). Oscar T. Branson includes his work in a fetish necklace of the early 1950s by several Zuni carvers (Branson 1975, p. 22).
Bille Hougart's Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks lists him as Zuni, 1915 to 1971, and records that he studied under Horace Iule and worked in inlay as well as carving (Hougart 2022, p. 317). The sources differ by a year on his death: 1970 in the Turnbaughs, 1971 in Hougart.
His hallmark
Hougart gives his mark as "DAVID", which may be on a small attached tag (Hougart 2022, p. 317).
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References
- Manley, Ray. Ray Manley's Collecting Southwestern Indian Arts & Crafts. Text by Clara Lee Tanner and others; photography by Naurice Koonce, Ray Manley and Alan Manley. Tucson: Ray Manley Photography, 1979.
- Stacey, Joseph, ed. Turquoise Blue Book and Indian Jewelry Digest. Arizona Highways Collectors Series. Phoenix: Arizona Highways, 1975.
- Turnbaugh, William A., and Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh. Indian Jewelry of the American Southwest. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2007 (first published 1988).
- Branson, Oscar T. Turquoise: The Gem of the Centuries. Santa Fe: Treasure Chest Publications, 1975.
- Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks: Silversmiths, Designers, Guilds and Traders. 5th edition. Washington, DC: BilleHougartBooks, 2022.
This profile is maintained in support of Native American silversmiths and compiled from published references. See something inaccurate, or want to add to it? Contact us.