This exhibit, located on the Upper Gallery on Level 3, features pieces that range from the dramatic black-on-black pottery of Maria and Julian Martinez to the wrought silver bracelets of Kenneth Begay and others. Many of the objects are part of the Elkus Collection, a gift from the family of San Franciscans Charles and Ruth Elkus, who collected extensively from the 1920’s to the early 1960’s. Later works received from other donors are also included. Together, the older and contemporary examples document that certain designs and patterns persist and are carried on by successive generations and also are simultaneously modified as the tradition evolves. A series of video images shows potters and jewelers at work.

• Maria and Julian Martinez: Potters who are credited with initiating the art market for pottery in the 1920s with their black-on-black pottery from San Ildefonso Pueblo.
• Lucy Lewis: A potter who revived ancient black & white pottery designs at Acoma Pueblo.
• Nampeyo: A Hopi-Tewa potter whose work was collected by the Smithsonian as early as the 1890s. Matriarch of 5 succeeding generations of potters.
• Charles Loloma: A Hopi jeweler who revolutionized native jewelry through innovative designs and use of gold and exotic stones.
• Kenneth Begay: A Navajo jeweler who set the standard for succeeding generations through his emphasis on precision and simplicity of design.
• Ambrose Roanhorse: A Navajo jeweler who taught many of the leading Navajo silversmiths in the 2nd quarter of the 20th century.

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Anthropology