Zuni VELMA & BLAKE LESANSEE Mosaic Inlay Roadrunner Bolo Turquoise 1950s-1960s

Description

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This is an especially beautiful example of the silversmith work of a world renowned couple. Husband-and-wife team Blake and Velma Lesansee started working together in the mid-1950s.  Their work resides in such museums as the Kennedy Museum of Art and the New Mexico Museum in Santa Fe. There are pictures of this couple's work in Bassman, Theda. "Zuni Jewelry" West Chester, PA: Schiffer Publishing Co., 1992, p. 25. Also in Bell, Ed and Barbara. "Zuni: The Art and the People Vol.3" Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing Company, 1977, p. 4-5. If you search online you'll see that their work sells in the thousands and is highly valued. This bolo is an early unsigned piece from the 1950s-early 1960s before they started signing. It is absolutely their work. I have owned numerous pieces of theirs because I love their work and know it well.
This bolo is their roadrunner. It has the form of their roadrunner and their personal characteristic stamping at the base, along with their characteristic choice of stones, which is an old array, not used in later years and highly festive. There is abalone and also red abalone as well as brown shell and mother of pearl and jet and turquoise and coral. The roadrunner's beak is coral. The purple and pink stone on the chest is sometimes referred to as Pow Wow Stone because it was worn in celebratory gatherings. They use mosaic inlay and also dot inlay in this piece and it's a beautiful choice of colors and arrangement. It is in excellent vintage condition, with the old original tips. The leather seems to have been replaced with new leather but the tips are the old ones. I've been wearing it and I think the leather is a little too thin, even though it's in good condition.
Dimensions are as follows. The tie end to end with the tips included measures 38" (96.52 cm). The bolo measures: 1-7/16" (3.65 cm) tall and 2-1/2" (6.35 cm). The tips measure 2-1/4" (5.72 cm) tall. The condition is excellent vintage, wearable and highly collectible.
The frame on this bolo has that deep clean stamping which is distinctively their stamp work. It's great! It is a very old use to include abalone and the red variety is the most valued. The couple cut and polish their own stones and select them for reflectivity and the stones in this bolo are superb. The stones were entirely hand selected for chatoyancy and they are very clean and very reflective. The turquoise is very lovely, clean Sleeping Beauty turquoise and the coral a very deep red. The mother of pearl and the abalone, the pinks and the purples, all of them really glow.  The bolo tests as sterling silver although it is unmarked which is typical of the time it was made. The Lesansees were one of the most important Zuni silversmiths and this roadrunner is their characteristic roadrunner. All the major Zuni artists had their own roadrunners and it's great to collect them. This piece makes a fine collector's item and it's beautiful to wear.
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