6.25" Willie Yazzie, Sr. (Navajo), 1928-1999 silver/copper overlay cuff bracelet

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6.25" Navajo Willie Yazzie Overlay silver/copper cuff bracelet. Solid sterling silver with copper basket ring.

After the success of the … Read more 6.25" Navajo Willie Yazzie Overlay silver/copper cuff bracelet. Solid sterling silver with copper basket ring.

After the success of the overlay designs made at the Hopi Guild many other silversmiths and shops incorporated overlay in their designs (see Overlay is Not Always Hopi Made). Navajo trader Dean Kirk opened his own trading post at Manuelito, New Mexico (between Gallup and the Arizona border) by January 1941. The silver work made in Dean’s shop was typically Navajo tourist type designs and hallmarked UITA22 (under the auspices of the United Indian Traders Association) until about 1951. That’s when Kirk designed a series of overlay pins to be made by Navajo smiths in his employ incorporating Hohokam and Mimbres designs. These designs proved to be very popular, as a 1958 newspaper advertisement for Enchanted Mesa in Albuquerque promoted “Dean Kirk’s Navajo Overlay Silver”. See less