THE PIN:

This is a VERY early piece of Federico's that has been in his collection for decades now & is a piece he's hung onto all these years..This is a old piece that he never sold ,nor has been worn previously.

Federico's never ending admiration for Zuni jewelry is clearly evident in this remarkably made pin, where he pays homage to this very identifiable known figure of Zuni.. He has helped by keeping Zuni mosaic work alive for decades now, while giving his own depiction, in his own way, with his own style.This pin is the perfect example of what I'm referring to.

Federico has always had some of the best mosaic artists on staff that rank to be some of the most superior when it comes to impeccable Lapidary art & mosaic inlay work.. This pin shows the work of one who is highly skilled & definitely shows that they know what they're doing. With this type of art, you have to figure that each one of the cuts has to be cut precisely to fit in each of the curved forms, to the bends at the elbow, the jagged cut “Tablita-Kiva Step” headdress & in the bending of the knees & then to inlay all of them, to where there is no breathing space from one cut to the next. This alone, will validate the skill of a lapidarist/mosaic inlay artist!

When worn, the pin angles to the right,so if you wear it on your left side or your right, it will angle to the right. It's made with turquoise, orange spiny oyster shell,white Alabaster & either black onyx or it could be black Jet.. Each section of the figure is set in their own bezels, but if you zoom in on the photos, you'll see where the upper body has an 'embedded' type of flush inlay of white little squares that are in the middle black potion .

Normally we only see the arms heading upward with the Rainbow Man,but with this one, Federico added what could be a depiction of 'rattles" (?) & has oval cuts of stark white Alabaster, Turquoise & Spiny Oyster shell.(See photos-but especially photo 3)

This can be worn by a woman or man & would dress up a wardrobe beautifully! Because of it's weight,I however, would not pin it to any delicate/thin like fabrics.(Like silk)

In the last photo is another one of Federico's own vintage pieces that you can find under “Women’s Jewelry then in the drop down, click on 'Pins"