Traditional Zuni Fetish Carving

On August 12-13th in Mystic and Westbrook, CT, Lorandina Sheche demonstrated her technique at Southern Exposure and displayed her work for sale.

Lorandina , a member of the Zuni tribe and a gifted fetish carver, comes from a well known family of Zuni carvers. They are best known for their traditional work.

She was the “Best of Show” winner at the Northern Arizona Zuni Heritage Show in 2000, an all-Zuni art show that has been held for 20 years.

Along with Lorandina, we were honored to have long-time Zuni trader Tony Eriacho present his collection of Zuni Fetishes and Jewelry.

Zuni Fetish Carving & Jewelry Show & Sale

August 12-13, 2006

Above Left: Avid collectors take a look at Tony Eriacho's selection of Zuni Fetishes for sale.

Above Right: Displayed are some of the tools that Lorandina Sheche works with daily. You will see chunks of various stones, including turquoise and pipestone, and bits of coral to fasten strands of sinew (sitting in a bowl of water, top left) with for the offerings Lorandina often makes for the tops of the fetishes.

Lorandina Sheche begins carving her pieces from blocks of stone using a belt attached to a motor. The dust and excess from the stone gets blown out of the other side of this motor. For the purposes of demonstrating her techniques inside, we attached the back end of the motor into a garbage can, connected with plastic garbage bags and tape.

Above left: Lorandina finishes polishing a frog fetish with a hand tool for a customer.

Above right: A gorgeous display of Zuni jewelry and fetishes that were available for sale. Zuni trader Tony Eriacho had an terrific selection of both traditional and contemporary zuni jewelry - fetish necklaces, inlay work, and needlepoint turquoise!

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