ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Master mosaic Zuni artist Quintin Quam Sr. is from the Zuni Pueblo, but now calls Albuquerque his home. Having learned the art of mosaic back in 1981 by well known Zuni artisans "Sammy & Ester Guardian" is who Quintin learned the "Art of Zuni Mosaic" from.. This husband & wife team took Quintin under their wing & taught the younger artist the ropes of mosaic art.

A previous painter, Quintin traded out the tubes of color, brushes & canvas, to now working with our earth's naturally produced colors for his subjects... He continues to paint, but these days it's done in a stone/shell/metal art form. Quintin's picturesque pieces are made where he cuts each one of these tiny, tiny colorful stones (or shell) by hand & then intricately laying them 'flush' into the sterling that actually look like a painted picture! All the feather detailing & everything else to create a more ‘realistic image’, is further created by the hands of Quintin.

His detailed workmanship is very impressive & makes it look all to easy to do, but when the art of mosaic is done on this tiny of a scale, it takes extreme skill & is very time consuming art form that doesn't happen overnight, nor in a matter of weeks,but literally takes years to do this type of work with extreme precision!

Quintin now has become a highly reputable artist that is very much sought after for his beautiful mosaic inlay work & whose work is in high demand.
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THE PENDANT:
To own a Quintin Quam's work, you might say is like owning a piece of fine art, where no 2 pieces are ever duplicated & are exquisitely designed.. A master lapidarist, where precise workmanship is of extreme importance, Quintin beautifully created this 'springtime' scene by hand cutting & shaping all the materials in the big hummingbird & the 5 various colored flying butterflies that are then mosaic inlaid into a large oval shaped domed pendant.

The mosaic inlaid hummingbird 'painting' has an array of just about every stone/shell known to Puebloan/Southwestern jewelry, with wings made of turquoise & abalone, a neck of Italian coral, a body of melon shell, an abalone backside & a tail of Lapis.. The butterflies are made of 5 different colored materials which are: Lapis-Red Spiny Oyster Shell-Mother of Pearl-Turquoise & Coral. The entirety of the perimeter is mosaic inlaid with cuts of Gaspeite, Sleeping Beauty turquoise & Lapis & which really helps to bring the focus to the center!

The pendant hangs from a bale that has about a 12 mm opening,(Roughly a 1/2") so it can be hung on anything just under that size. Take note that you want to keep the necklace diameter below the the bale size since you want the pendant to move & breathe freely on the strand..

**I have other items listed by Quintin & you can find them by putting his name in the search bar when you're on my front page! Also,if you zoom in on the last photo,you'll see a 3 bird cuff that is listed under “Bracelets”

**With Zuni Work, you are paying for time, rather than the amount of materials,weight of the metal**