Teddy Weahkee Silver Box with Inlaid Rainbow Man

Artist: Teddy Weahkee (1890-1965)
Dimensions: 8”L x 5 1/2”W x 2 1/2”H
Tribe: Zuni
Stone: Multi-stone
Material: Silver
Price:Not For Sale

As seen in Elegant Vessels: A century of southwest silver boxes (Page 44, 45, & 47)

Elegant Vessels Book

The success of Knife Wing figures was closely followed by stone mosaics of the Rainbow Man, another being from Zuni traditional stories. There is some discrepancy as to dates in an account that credits David Tsikewa as the first to create a Rainbow Man squash blossom necklace in 1938 and then goes on to report that the first complete set of “Rainbows” was done in 1936 by Teddy Weahkee and sold to Mrs. John Huckle, daughter of Fred Harvey (Huff 1948). Like its recently established predecessor, the Knife Wing, Rainbow Man quickly appeared as jewelry and on boxes. Again, reproduced at various levels of complexity, the Rainbow Man dances amid gathering storm clouds.