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A very finely-crafted Acoma/Laguna Pueblo silver cuff bracelet set with a semi-precious gemstone by Greg Lewis, c. 1990’s
This beautiful bracelet has a whole lot of authentic old-style goodness to it with the added benefit of a
somewhat unexpected, somewhat Modernist-looking precious little cherry on top, so to speak. Made from
handwrought ingot-silver the bracelet is crafted in the time-honored and time-consuming traditional manner;
with a beautifully hand-hammered slab of cast-ingot silver used to form the bracelet’s shank which was then
finely and artistically shaped and decorated with beautifully-executed repoussee and stamp work designs.
This is the talented third-generation Acoma/Laguna Pueblo silversmith, Greg Lewis (1954-2022) at his most
creative. Greg began his career as apprentice to his Grandfather, the renowned Acoma Pueblo silversmith,
Alvin Concho Lewis (Active 1920’s-1980) who taught him his craft and set him on his artistic path.
Like his traditionally-minded Grandfather, Greg Lewis was a very old-style fellow, he made things like he was still living back in the 19th century and in a very real sense he was. He lived and worked quietly way out off the beaten path in his tiny Laguna Pueblo home village of Paguate about 50 miles as the crow flies west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, under the shadow of the ancient volcano, Mount Taylor. He worked in his small hand-built stone house with handmade tools he mostly made himself and he made his jewelry in the classic traditional manner in which he was taught. In more recent years, Greg often worked in conjunction with his son and apprentice, Dyaami Lewis, but this piece was made well before that.
At left, Greg Lewis making jewelry, Paguate Village, Laguna Pueblo, NM, c. 1976. At right, Greg Lewis, at left, and his son Dyaami Lewis, at right, c. 2008. Greg is still wearing the same bracelet he was wearing thirty-two years earlier in the photo at left.
Left photo by Lee Marmon. Photo source and © Center for Southwest Research, University of New Mexico. Right photo source and © marthastruever.com
The bracelet’s silver shank has been very nicely decorated with interesting, finely-executed stamp work and repoussee designs running all the way around the shank. These designs accentuate and highlight the bracelet’s star attraction, the lovely rectangularly-shaped cut and faceted dark yellowish-orange semi-precious gemstone, most likely either a Citrine or Topaz, set in the bracelet’s center in a beautifully and creatively crafted raised bezel platform which is itself nicely accented with two applied twisted silver wire surrounds.
This is a somewhat unusual treatment for Greg Lewis who rarely used stones other than turquoise in his jewelry and to our knowledge even more rarely ever made classic fine jewelry style “prong” style stone settings like the fine jewelry ateliers all over the world such as Tiffany, Cartier and Bulgari always use. It’s a distinctly un-traditional and fascinating twist to see in a traditional Native American jewelry piece. Possibly this bracelet was a special commission for a certain individual, both Citrine and Topaz are the birthstones for the month of November, but that is impossible to know. It would certainly be wonderful to be able to discuss this with Greg Lewis, but alas this cannot
be done. What we do know for certain is that however this beauty came to pass it is indeed a great and rare beauty.
The bracelet measures 5/8” in continuous width all the way around. The inner circumference end-to-end is 5 1/2” and the gap between the terminals is 1 1/16” for a total inner circumference of 6 9/16”. The height of the gem stone rises approximately 3/8” above the wrist. The bracelet weighs a very comfortable and easy to wear 43 grams or 1 1/2 ounces and it is in excellent original condition for its now 30-35 or so years of age.
The bracelet is properly signed on the interior with Greg Lewis’ customary arrowhead hallmark, the cherished hallmark he inherited from his beloved Grandfather. We have had quite a few pieces of Greg Lewis’ unique handwrought Pueblo jewelry over the past 35 or so years that we have known him and we can say that this is one
of the most striking looking and interesting pieces of his that we have ever had, it’s a beautiful and dynamic silver
nd precious gemstone sculpture for your wrist.
We were fortunate to spend a good amount of personal time with Greg Lewis throughout the 1990’s watching him work, discussing his methods and purchasing and commissioning various of his pieces. It was a pleasure to call him
a friend and colleague. Greg is gone now, no doubt hard at work hammering out another beautiful bracelet at that great silversmith’s bench in the sky, but the beauty of his classic, timeless pieces and the satisfied feeling one gets from owning and wearing them, lives on as his fitting legacy.
Price $975