Harry Sakyesva — Hopi Silversmith Hallmark
Harry Sakyesva may have learned silversmithing in Tucson, from Ralph Tawangyaouma and Allen Pooyama. Margaret Nickelson Wright's Hopi Silver, a register of Hopi smiths and their hallmarks, records him as a member of the Corn clan from Hotevilla who began silverwork around the 1940s, and calls him "an excellent smith" (Wright 2003, p. 77). He died in 1971.
Bille Hougart's Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks lists him as "Harry Sakyesva (1922-1969; Hopi)," an "Early and pioneering Hopi silversmith" active from the 1930s to the mid-1960s, who worked for the Thunderbird Shop in the 1950s and in 1961 opened his own shop, Sakyesva Jewelry, in Scottsdale, Arizona; Hougart gives his mark as "SAKYESVA (one or two tadpoles)" (Hougart 2022, p. 272). The two books differ on his death: Wright gives 1971, Hougart 1969.
His hallmark
Wright labels his mark "Tadpole." The printed drawing shows a tadpole with a round head, one small circle eye and a notched mouth, and a long S-curved tail sweeping down to the lower left (Wright 2003, p. 77).
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References
- Wright, Margaret Nickelson. Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing. Revised edition. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003.
- Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks: Silversmiths, Designers, Guilds and Traders. 5th edition. Washington, DC: BilleHougartBooks, 2022.
- Schaaf, Gregory, with Angie Yan Schaaf. American Indian Jewelry I: 1,200 Artist Biographies, ca. 1800-present. American Indian Art Series, Vol. 5. Santa Fe: CIAC Press, 2003. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2003.
From the Library: Schaaf, American Indian Jewelry I (2003)
2003 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2003, not today.
Schaaf (2003, p. 260) named Harry Sakyesva as the student of the Hopi silversmith Allen Pooyouma, who began working in 1937. [3]
Schaaf (2003) recorded his hallmark:
“(hallmark - tadpole)”
— Schaaf (2003), p. 277 [3]
Schaaf (2003, p. 277) recorded Harry Sakyesva as Hopi of Hotevilla, living from 1921 or 1922 to 1971, taught by Ralph Tawangyaouma and Allen Pooyama, the teacher of Wayne and Emory Sekaquaptewa, who started Hopicrafts, and an exhibitor at the Museum of New Mexico in 1949. [3]
Schaaf (2003, p. 302) listed Harry Sakyesva among the students of the Hopi silversmith Ralph Tawangyawma, who used a hallmark of lightning striking from a thundercloud with an H from about 1930. [3]
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.