Turquoise, Opal and Black Onyx Sterling Ring - Zuni Mark?

I have been trying to research this ring and find that there are two similar types - Zuni and reproductions. I don't know where my ring falls. It has an internal mark next to the Sterling. And two marks on the outside of the ring. All of this is very confusing. I have a snake eye ring that I believe is Native American with a E L on the outside. (see photo below)



Does anyone have any ideas for me?

 

Need better photos of the top of the 1st ring,the channel ring could have been made by anyone,There have been classes taught by Native Americans for many years in California,Arizona and New Mexico. Link to one in California but type of classes hasn't been posted yet.

https://idyllwildarts.org/nativeamericanarts/

 

If NA made, think more likely to be Navajo. They do serious inlay work & these stones are favorites.

 

How interesting. I just did a cursory scan and they all came up Zuni. Thank you for clarifying.

 

I'll have to track it down and take some photos. I bought it to go with my Clark Coyancy Petit point cuff.

 

Take a look at the work of Clayton Tom - amazing. I think 'Zuni' is a default term for a lot of sellers. I think of petit point when I think of Zuni jewellery.

 

That's really amazing work. Such incredible detail and presence. Thanks for sharing his pieces.

 

Holly is right to call it channel work..

..."The Zunis are famous for a particular type of stonework called inlay. Here stones are worked and then fit together, sometimes side by side, called stone-to-stone, or with silver channels in between, known as channel inlay."

 

Lovely ring Kiko. NA opal inlay jewellery is fairly recent, so unfortunately the maker is not in my books. Many ELs, but not this one.

The Zuni were the first SW NA to make channelwork, and for years they were the only ones. Inlay as such is of course an ancient tradition in the Southwest.
Ca 1925, trading post owner C.G. Wallace was instrumental in introducing inlay in silver to the Zuni, because it was fashionable at the time. With techniques and styles that appealed to a greater public he hoped to combat the extreme poverty of the Zuni, and he succeeded. In 1930 the stone inlay developed into channelwork, and both techniques are still used.
With better equipment they were also able to make petit point and other clusterwork, which also became known as typical Zuni.

Hopi artist Charles Loloma also used inlay techniques, including mosaic and channelwork, in stunning pieces. He was inspired by ancient SW inlay. He was always interested in historic techniques and styles. His work influenced a Navajo artist, can't remember his name now. With the succes of the artist whose name escapes me, other Navajo began to make channelwork as well.
But it is still generally associated with the Zuni.

 

I can't tell you much about the ring, but I love the ring stand!

 

Superb information. What an asset to the forum you are. I am immediately attracted to Native American and Mexican work, because stones (and stone substitutes) are the main focal point of their pieces.

Channelwork is a new term for me, but I can see how it is such a depictive word. With your explanation, it shows the lack of clarity of who may have made rings such as this. It has a Native American feel to me. I will have to do more research on who marked their pieces like this.

 

That is just an small acrylic easel that I prop open to hold the ring in place. I started to use them because it gave me a better angle for photographing rings.

 

Clever! I would never have thought it was an acrylic easel.

 

Oh, wait a minute, ADD moment again, I thought it was just one ring, the opal one.
I can help you there, I'll look it up now.

 

Yep, the EL mark with snake eye inlay is a Zuni husband an wife team, Elmer and Mary Lementino.

 

Fabulous, I was hoping it was real Native American, but I wear it anyway because it sorta matches the cuff. New artists to look up. So excited.

 

Both of them are (were?) silversmiths and lapidarists.

 

The lucite easel makes a great product shot.

 

I've been doing some research and the Lementino comes up with many first names. Actually, an Oscar and Mary were mentioned by name in a book on Zuni artists. Google is so limited when it comes to research. Thank you for being so knowledgeable about these artists.

 

It was just happenstance that I used it for the first time. I was trying for a good shot and one was laying next to me.