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A magnificent Hopi “triple-overlay” silver cuff

bracelet by Michael Kabotie (Lomawywesa), 2008

“Ka-Boom” is the telltale sound of a bomb going off and that is precisely what is happening here. This bracelet is literally, “the bomb”, a masterpiece of incredible artistic force and power. Michael Kabotie’s extraordinary “triple-overlay” style silver bracelets are always beautiful things to behold and this might just be the very finest of them that we have ever seen and we knew Michael very well and have been buying and selling his jewelry for many years. The unique “triple-overlay” style, which Michael originally developed, allowed him to achieve a far greater sense of depth, detail and precision in his jewelry than is possible in conventional Hopi silver overlay. Through the judicious application of stamp work, chisel work, shading and/or etching on the top layer of silver and the strategic use of cut-out panels, the piece acquires a marvelous, sculptural quality and vividness of design, almost like a hand-carved sculptural silver painting, if you will, rendered in three distinct dimensions.

“Best” is always a hard thing to quantify and it is always a very personal evaluation, but this bracelet has everything

one could ever want or ask for in a jewelry piece by Michael Kabotie; an extraordinarily well-conceived and executed deeply-layered design in silver based on the spectacular Ancient Hopi kiva murals at Awatovi which Michael’s Father, the legendary Hopi artist and teacher, Fred Kabotie, helped Harvard University unearth in the 1930’s and the artistic beauty and historical and spiritual significance of which indelibly formed the inspirational basis for the young Michael Kabotie’s subsequent work in painting and jewelry. The beautifully-executed, precisely-carved silver work is perfectly accentuated by the addition of a large and lovely high-grade Morenci, Arizona blue turquoise stone, one of the most beautiful, desirable and valuable varieties of turquoise in the world. The turquoise stone is very nicely set in a finely serrated silver bezel.

The bracelet measures 2 1/4” in continuous width along the entire length of the silver shank. The inner circumference  end-to-end is 5 7/8” and the gap between the terminals is 1 1/4” for a total interior circumference of 7 1/8”. The bracelet weighs a substantial 155 grams or 5 3/8 ounces, essentially almost one-third of a pound, yet it wears very comfortably on the wrist. The bracelet is in completely excellent original condition.

The bracelet is properly signed “Lomawywesa” (Michael Kabotie’s Hopi name, which means "Walking in Harmony") in Kabotie’s characteristic cursive signature and it is also copyrighted and dated “2008” on the interior which makes it among the last jewelry pieces Michael Kabotie ever made. Since Michael’s untimely death in 2009, the very limited supply of Michael Kabotie jewelry has literally skyrocketed in value. On the rare occasion when something does become available, particularly a major piece such as this one, you can expect to pay handsomely for it. Masterworks by acknowledged Master artists are not and should not be inexpensive, but they are always masterpieces, and, as such, will always be worth a premium to those who properly understand, appreciate and value them.

This phenomenal bracelet is an all-time great by an all-time great, truly one for the ages.

SOLD

“We the Hopi have a lot to offer from a spiritual standpoint and as a living force. We are hoping that from the presentation of our traditions and from the interpretation of the Hopi way in our art and paintings a new direction can come for American spirituality.”

-Michael Kabotie

At left, The San Francisco Peaks as seen from the Hopi mesas. At right, a detail of a 2001 Michael Kabotie Hopi mural study drawing depicting The San Francisco Peaks outside Flagstaff, Arizona as being the legendary ancestral home of the Hopi Kachina spirit beings.

Right photo source and © Sacred Land