Victor Lee Masayesva — Hopi Silversmith
Hopi silversmith. Profiled in Mark Bahti’s Silver + Stone (2007).
Victor Lee Masayesva, a Hopi silversmith, was profiled in Mark Bahti's Silver + Stone (2007).
The Mark
Recorded mark: a lightning bolt, since 1995; Hougart also records VM (conjoined) (Bahti (2007, p. 115); Hougart (2022)).
From the Library: Bahti, Silver + Stone: Profiles of American Indian Jewelers (2007)
A 2007 profile, reviewed and corrected by the artists themselves before publication. Anything described as current describes 2006-2007, not today.
According to Bahti (2007, p. 112), Victor Lee Masayesva (b. 1962), a member of the Snake Clan, took one jewelry class at the Institute of American Indian Arts with Skip Holbrook, who had students draw their own wire, roll their own sheet and make their own stamping tools. [1]
Recalling the roller-textured silver that Bob Rhodes and Verma Nequatewa showed him, Victor Lee Masayesva told Bahti (2007):
“That was 1993, and I did that style for nearly a decade.”
— Bahti (2007), p. 114 [1]
Bahti (2007, p. 115) reported that he textured silver with sandpaper, tried cuttlebone, then turned to tufa on Rhodes's suggestion, and that by 1997 his work had shifted from cut-out to overlay with an ever-changing array of textures. [1]
According to Bahti (2007, p. 115), his hallmark, used since 1995, is a lightning bolt. [1]
Sources
- Bahti, Mark. Silver + Stone: Profiles of American Indian Jewelers. Tucson: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2007. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2007.
- Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2022. Cited for the recorded hallmark.
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