Mediterranean Coral Hummingbird Design Belt Buckle by Amy Quandelacy, Zuni

Hummingbird Design Belt Buckle
by Amy Quandelacy, Zuni Pueblo
sterling silver, inlays of Mediterranean coral
2” high x 4” wide, 1.5” belt

Provenance: Estate of Laura Russo and Michihiro Kosuge

The Quandelacy family is a renowned family of Zuni fetish carvers and jewelry makers. The family tradition was started by matriarch Ellen Quandelacy, and has been passed down through generations, with members including Dickie, Amy, Faye, Stuart, Vickie and Andres who each contribute a unique style to the family's work.

Amy Quandelacy was born in 1953 on the Zuni reservation. The wife of Dickie Quandelacy, she began making jewelry in 1976 at the age of 23. She is very well known for the Quandelacy family signature Hummingbird design, a distinctive raised, channel inlay with interwoven silver channels holding precisely shaped stones. Amy exclusively works with high quality sleeping beauty turquoise and Mediterranean coral, and each work is a technical masterpiece.