Vintage Bolo tie by artist Eddie Beyuka

VINTAGE 1960'S BOLO TIE BY EDDIE BEYUKA

Vintage Eddie Beyuka Zuni Bolo Tie. Circa 1960's. Set in solid sterling silver with genuine turquoise and red coral. The main design measures 3" x 2-1/2". The unique background pattern you see is actually hand woven strips of silver lay ed in a basket weave pattern. VERY UNUSUAL! The texture areas are melted silver that has been carefully applied. 7 turquoise stones surround the "drum" element with a coral stone attached. The tips of the bolo replicate this design. One of a kind piece for the true collector. Please contact us for more detailed information about this special piece. 

 Artist: Eddie Beyuka (1920-2002) Eddie Beyuka lived in Zuni Pueblo and is best known for his bolas and standing figures of Katsinas and dancers executed in channel inlay with a variety of materials-generally turquoise, mother of pearl, jet, coral, and others-skillfully integrated in his famous creations.

 Lone Mountain Turquoise The Lone Mountain Turquoise Mine, near Tonopah, Nevada, was one of the leading producers of fine turquoise in Nevada. It was discovered by Lee Hand in 1920 and filed under the name of Blue Jay Mining Lode. At first it was called the Blue Jay Mine on Lone Mountain and later just Lone Mountain. It is presently closed. As with most mines, it was at first a tunnel and shaft project but when Menless Winfield bought the mine it was made an open pit operation. The turquoise from this mine is mostly good to high-grade and usually in the form of nuggets although there is a quantity of vein material. A very interesting occurrence of turquoise found here is a condition where the turquoise was deposited in cavities or molds left when parts of fossil plants were dissolved out of a harder rock. The turquoise is graded into golden matrix, black matrix and spider web. At present, most of it is cut and polished or the nuggets drilled and polished at the mine, making this is a very collectible turquoise, and rarely available in rough form.

 Red coral comes from certain areas, such as the Mediterranean, where the specific water temperature and conditions allow coral to thrive. Coral is a hardened tube or branch. Only about 10% of coral is considered jewelry quality. Coral comes in shades from blood-red to orange to pink to white. Although coral has been used by Stone Age peoples as long as 30,000 years ago to decorate sepulchers (burial vaults), Native American artists have only used coral for the last 600 years.