Tufa-Cast Bracelet by Gilbert “Dino” Garcia, Santo Domingo Pueblo; 2007<BR> Silver; turquoise; 6 x 5 x 3,5 cm.<BR> RMV 6076-28; purchased by Pieter Hovens in Old Town Albuquerque gallery, 2007 <BR> <BR> Santo Domingo Pueblo was long established as the chief source of the lovely shell and turquoise necklaces worn and prized by the Navajos and Pueblos alike long before the Navajos started to work silver (Bedinger 1973:171). Ralph Atencio was the first to learn the art of silversmithing at Santo Domingo and he went on to teach his son and five other men in the village. For a long time the silversmiths of Santo Domingo patterned their jewelry after that of the Navajos making it difficult to distinguish who made a piece (Adair 1944:186). This can be especially challenging when they enter museum collections without proper provenance.<BR> <BR> Even though silversmithing has been in practice at Santo Domingo since 1893 (Adair 1944:186) it was Anthony Lovato who was responsible for starting the art of tufa casting at Santo Domingo Pueblo (Cirillo 2008:70). This unique bracelet with a spider web design features the fine work of emerging artist Gilbert “Dino” Garcia. According to the gallery where this piece was purchased, this was the first of its type the artist had made.<BR> <BR> Born in 1969, Dino Garcia learned to carve tufa molds and cast sterling silver jewelry from his grandfather Leo Coriz, who learned the art from the legendary Hopi jewelry artist, Charles Loloma. After spending his teen years in an Indian boarding school in Oklahoma, Garcia moved to California where he worked for defense contractors for a couple of years in the greater Los Angeles area. After returning to Santo Domingo Pueblo in 2000, he began working as a full-time silversmith. Garcia is one of a handful of silversmiths working at Santo Domingo today.<BR> <BR> Working with both silver and gold Garcia specializes in casting his pieces in hand-carved tufa molds. He uses a soft tufa that he finds in Arizona at a place that his grandfather had taken him to. Garcia’s pieces are different from most of the artists working in tufa cast as demonstrated by the intricate spider web design of this bracelet. The soft tufa allows Garcia to carve particularly detailed designs in the stone. His two-piece molds are carved on each side so that pieces show a cast design on the outside and inside surfaces of every bracelet. Because he can only use his tufa molds once his pieces are truly one-of-a-kind.<BR> <BR> His hallmark “DINO” is hand-carved into the mold. In addition to his name, Garcia adds cornstalks, rain clouds, the moon and stars on the inside of his bracelets. The cornstalk is significant because it represents his membership in the Corn Clan at Santo Domingo Pueblo. His pieces won first and second place ribbons at the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial in 2000 and 2002. One of his trademarks is the single turquoise cabochon set in a soldered bezel in his bracelets and Pueblo Crosses.<BR> <BR> Shelby Tisdale<BR> The Autry Museum, Los Angeles, CA; 2015<BR> <BR> <BR> John Adair, The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths; University of Oklahoma Press; Norman, 1944. Marjery Bedinger, Indian Silver: Navajo and Pueblo Jewelers; University of New Mexico Press; Albuquerque, 1973. Dexter Cirillo, Southwestern Indian Jewelry: Creating New Traditions; Rizzoli; New York, 2008.<BR> <BR> Brede zilveren armband in spinnenwebmotief met turkooize steen. Dit is de eerste van dit type die door kunstenaar Dino Garcia uit Santo Domingo Pueblo werd gemaakt.<BR> <BR> Santo Domingo staat vooral bekend om zijn sieraden van turkoois, schelp en koraal en mozaïekwerk van schelpen. Daarnaast worden ook op een wat kleinere schaal zilveren sieraden gemaakt. Tegen het einde van de negentiende eeuw droegen de inwoners van Santo Domingo al enige tijd kleine zilveren juwelen die zij verruilden met de Navajo's. In 1893 leerde de eerste Santo Domingo, Ralph Atencio, de kunst van het smeden van een blanke smid uit Santa Fe. Vervolgens leerde Atencio zilversmeden aan zijn zoon en vijf andere mannen in het dorp. Zij verkochten het grootste deel van hun werk aan blanke toeristen maar hadden daarnaast ook een kleinere markt voor eigen gebruik. Deze sieraden waren gemaakt van zwaarder zilver en ingelegd met turkoois van betere kwaliteit. Naast de zilversmeden in Santo Domingo zelf waren enkelen in Albuquerque actief bij zilversmeden aldaar en kregen kleine jongens les in het smeden in de "Santa Fe Indian School". Lange tijd leken de juwelen van Santo Domingo op die van de Navajo's. De afwezigheid van een typerende Santo Domingo stijl werd door Alfreda Ward als een gebrek ervaren en zij schakelde de hulp in van artiest Kenneth M. Chapman. Chapman tekende adaptaties van kenmerkende aardewerkdecoraties en Wilfred Jones, een Navajo docent zilversmeden aan de "Santa Fe Indian School" hielp zijn leerlingen met het maken van stempels van bloemen en vogels. Met name de vogels bleken erg populair op broches, knopen en armbanden. Vanaf dit moment werd een typerende Santo Domingo stijl ontwikkeld.