Pierce Kewanwytewa — Hopi Silversmith

Pierce Kewanwytewa learned silver the hard way. Margaret Nickelson Wright's Hopi Silver, a register of Hopi smiths and their hallmarks, records that before 1906 he and his cousin Ralph Tawangyaouma, both of Oraibi, "melted the solder off tin cans and used it to practice silverwork" (Wright 2003, p. 15).

He was demonstrating silverwork at the Museum of Northern Arizona's Hopi Craftsmen Show by 1937 (Wright 2003, p. 14). Theda Bassman's The Beauty of Hopi Jewelry shows a bracelet with one turquoise stone he made in 1939–1940 (Bassman 1993, p. 3). Around 1934 he moved to Zia Pueblo and kept making silver there (Wright 2003, p. 75).

Bille Hougart's Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks lists him as Hopi, 1890 to 1960, working in hand-wrought silver, set stones and overlay (Hougart 2022, p. 171). Wright also gives 1960 for his death (Wright 2003, p. 75). Margery Bedinger's Indian Silver: Navajo and Pueblo Jewelers, quoting a 1962 account by White, records a Hopi smith named "Pierce Kanareywa" who came to live at Sia and "died in 1954" (Bedinger 1973, p. 176); the story matches his, but the name and the year differ.

His hallmark

The sources disagree. Wright records no mark for him (Wright 2003, p. 75). Hougart lists "A corn plant" and notes that "he also used a sans serif H (for Hopi) and a Zuni Mt. symbol" (Hougart 2022, p. 171).