1950's Early Native Zuni Stone Bear Fetish By Leo Poblano (d.)

  
1950's Early Native Zuni Stone Bear Fetish By Leo Poblano d. See pictures for details as part of description.

Leo Poblano is widely recognized as one of the most skillful and imaginative Zuni stoneworkers of the 20th century. Little is known of Poblano's early life or exactly when he started working for C. He enlisted in the military during World War II.

Upon his return, he worked for the BIA as a wildlands firefighter, but also continued making the stone fetishes and mosaic jewelry for which he is famous. It is said that his wife, Daisy Hooee Nampeyo, who studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris taught him the relief works he used to enhance the stone inlay.

His last wife, Ida Vacit, also worked the stones with him creating inlays that Wallace would then have Navajo silversmiths mount on jewelry and boxes. Poblano died while fighting a wildfire in the Angeles National Forest in California when a load of fire suppressant chemicals was accidentally dropped on him and four other Zuni firefighters.