Quintin Quam Sr. | Zuni Pueblo | Monumental Pictorial Mosaic Inlay

This is Mabel.

Mabel was told there were butterflies.

That was apparently all the information she required.

Because this hummingbird has entered the scene with considerable enthusiasm.

Wings open.

Tail spread.

Beak pointed directly toward the action.

Two butterflies above her.

Flowers to the side.

And absolutely no indication that Mabel intends to slow down.

This extraordinary pictorial pendant is the work of Zuni artist Quintin Quam Sr., and it’s one of my favorite compositions in the group because it captures something notoriously difficult in jewelry:

motion.

Mabel isn’t posing.

She’s doing something.

WHY THIS PIECE MATTERS

Look at the silhouette of the hummingbird.

The wings extend in different directions.

The tail fans outward.

The head and beak reach upward.

Even before you study the individual pieces of inlay, the entire bird feels airborne.

Then Quam surrounds her with the reason for all this activity.

Two butterflies hover above.

A flowering plant grows beside her.

Geometric turquoise elements create a secondary frame around the scene.

And the entire composition is enclosed by another architectural mosaic of turquoise, lapis, shell and warm earth tones.

There are essentially layers of storytelling here.

Bird.

Butterflies.

Flowers.

Landscape.

Frame.

All occupying approximately three inches of sterling silver.

ARTIFACT REGISTRY

Artifact: Mabel — The Butterfly Chase Hummingbird Pendant
Maker: Quintin Quam Sr.
People: Zuni Pueblo
Origin: Zuni, New Mexico
Materials: Sterling silver with multistone and shell mosaic inlay
Subject: Hummingbird, butterflies and flowering plant
Technique: Pictorial mosaic inlay
Form: Monumental statement pendant
Length: Approx. 3 inches
Weight: 28 grams
Construction: Articulated sterling bail
Hallmark: Quintin Quam Sr.
Collector’s Gallery Value: $2,700

CURATOR’S FIELD OBSERVATION

Mabel is all about movement.

Quam has created an unusually dynamic hummingbird by allowing the wings and tail to expand through the composition rather than compressing the bird into a neat central silhouette.

Then the butterflies above give the eye somewhere to travel.

Your eye moves from Mabel’s body to the beak, upward toward the butterflies, outward toward the flowers, and finally around the geometric border.

It’s an extremely sophisticated composition disguised as something simply joyful.

And that’s one of Quam’s great strengths.

The technique can be extraordinarily complex without the finished piece feeling academic.

You don’t need to understand mosaic construction to respond to it.

You just see a hummingbird chasing butterflies.

ARTIFACT CHARACTER RECORD

Name: Mabel

Species: Hummingbird

Occupation: Butterfly Liaison

Nobody appointed her.

Temperament: Enthusiastic. Curious. Easily redirected.

Natural Habitat: Wherever something interesting just moved.

Known For: Entering situations at maximum speed.

Special Ability: Can change objectives approximately eleven times before breakfast.

Favorite Activity: Pursuit.

Of what?

Currently butterflies.

That may change.

Known Associates: Two butterflies who do not appear to understand that they are now involved in something.

Mildly Concerning Behavior: Has never once completed the activity she originally set out to do.

Threat Level: Negligible.

Energy Level: Unreasonable.

ERIC’S NOTES FROM THE FIELD

Mabel makes me happy.

That’s basically it.

Look at her.

She’s airborne.

There are butterflies.

There are flowers.

Something is happening.

And Quam somehow managed to build that feeling out of hard materials.

Stone doesn’t move.

Shell doesn’t move.

Silver doesn’t move.

But Mabel absolutely does.

That’s the magic trick.

The wings, the tail, the long beak reaching upward — everything creates motion.

And then there are those two tiny butterflies just floating above her, apparently unaware that they have become the central focus of Mabel’s entire afternoon.

Her name is Mabel.

She’s very busy.

We don’t know with what.