JANICE LALIO Zuni Sunface Earrings orders Sterling Silver Posts Native American

JANICE LALIO

Zuni Sunface

Earrings

Sterling Silver Posts

Janice Lalio is a Zuni silversmith from New Mexico. Here she has chosen to create lovely Sunface earrings using black onyx, red coral, turquoise and mother of pearl.

Earrings are 9/16 inches in diameter. They are signed on the backs by the artist. See photo.

Crafting a Sunface requires a high level of skill in making the exacting cuts in stone necessary to create the fine inlay used in a Sunface. Most Sunface designs are in a full circular motif. The center inlay represents the face of the Sun.

The forehead is most often split into two sections. According to The Turquoise Canyon blog: “These sections represent two important concepts. The first is the pairing of oneself with the family. To the Zuni people family is as critical to life as food and water, yet they also understand that each person is unique and special. Each one requires the other, and as such, both become represented as a main component of the Sunface. The other meaning is to symbolize the coming and going of the sun; sunrise and sunset or the day and night. The continuity of these events gives hope and stability to the Zuni, and again, neither can exist without the other.”

The lower section represents the eyes and mouth. The eyes are orders usually long, thin rectangular shapes. These “slits” are the eyes of the Sun, peering out upon all of us. The mouth is round and it is thought that the simple circle design, showing no smile or frown, means that the Sun is neither good nor bad. The surrounding circular design commonly represents feathers or beams of light radiating from the sun.

The earrings in the picture are the ones you will receive!

Thanks for looking!