Dig It - 4/16/26
Well Seekers, I present you with another over-the-top Zuni cuff. A while back, I showed you a Zuni channel-work cuff; well, this one came with it. Both bracelets were of the highest craftsmanship and had the finest turquoise stones. They had to have been made for C.G. Wallace.
Who was C.G. Wallace, you might ask? Very briefly, he was born in North Carolina in 1898 and moved to Zuni in 1918. He started by working for other traders, but by the early 1920s, he bought the trading post at Zuni and was in business for himself. Wallace said there were only five silversmiths in the village in 1918, but by the time he left Zuni in the 1960s, there were over a hundred. He is responsible for encouraging the Zuni to revive their ancient tradition of stone inlay and producing pieces of the highest craftsmanship.
He owned a turquoise mine and purchased the finest turquoise from other mines in Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona as well. He distributed these high-grade stones and other materials to the best craftsmen, resulting in a superior product. He was also the first trader to encourage women to be silversmiths. His demand for excellence in craftsmanship and the pieces he had made are “Scary Good." That wraps it up, Fellow Seekers. Keep a look out for C.G. Wallace pieces where you get both craftsmanship and quality material, and you will never go wrong. -Lonesome