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Nuu-chah-nulth Grey Whale Bracelet – Collaboration with Joe David

This work is presented in partnership with Traver Gallery. Photo by Russell Johnson.

After the introduction of silver to the Northwest Coast nations—often in the form of silver coins—historic Northwest Coast artists eagerly embraced the opportunity to engrave the pounded silver in the same way they would engrave cedar. Artists would pound coins into a flat sheet of silver, cut it into a rectangle, and then set about engraving and bending it into the form of a bracelet. When they etched their elegant formline designs into a monochromatic material, it allowed the very best engravers to display their mastery like never before. Silversmithing and metal engraving became a new high artform on the Coast.

With this magnificent glass cuff, Singletary and David honor the rich history of the bracelet on the Coast, and rise to the heights of those historic engravers. The sinuous formline depicting Nuu-chah-nulth gray whale is masterful, and the color of this cuff simultaneously connotes a silver bracelet and the bone color of a Nuu-chah-nulth whalebone bracelet.

Collaborations between Joe David and Preston Singletary offer the collector a rare and exquisite opportunity to own and live with works that embody the excellence of both Northwest Coast art and studio glass art.