1950’s Frank Patania Sr(1899-1964) Modernist southwestern Sterling RC Bolo tie.2″ wide bolo slide 37.7 grams with no issues.Rare possibly one of a kind, Frank Patania and his studio did a lot of custom pieces.This is obviously the RC Cola logo but at this point I have no way of knowing if it were made for say a company exec or someone with the initials RC.Shouldn’t really matter, it’s very cool.
All precious metals are tested and guaranteed, any Native American jewelry referred to as Silver or Sterling is guaranteed to be a minimum of 90% (coin) silver and possibly higher content.Anything marked is guaranteed to be what it’s marked, most bracelets are photographed on a 6″ wrist (non hairy), rings photographed on the appropriate sized finger when possible.With bracelets if the measurement is not given in the description then inside circumference is shown where the metal meets the number on the the cloth tape measure.
Frank Patania Sr. immigrated to New York City in 1908. Child labor laws kept the young man from working as a craftsman, but after World War I he was old enough to be hired as a designer for an important jewelry firm. In 1924 he contracted tuberculosis, and the firm sent him to a sanatorium in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Patania was seduced by the active art colony and healthy climate, and chose to remain in the Southwest even after his health improved. His work reflects both his European training and his exposure to Pueblo and Navajo jewelry.
The legacy left by Frank Patania, Sr. came from the integration of two distinctly different traditions-one European, and the other Native American. On the one hand, Frank Sr. drew from a long history of Italian creative spirit, combining technical expertise and artistic imagination. He instilled in his family the Italian commitment to fine craftsmanship, as well as the Italian custom of family corporate bonding.
This uniquely Italian tradition can be traced back as far as the Renaissance, and provides a structure in which each member of an artisan family has a job to perform that contributes to the family enterprise. This familial check and balance system has been a powerful asset to the Patania family’s continued standard of excellence through the years. But Frank Sr.’s style was drastically transformed when he was introduced to the work of southwest Native American jewelers in the 1920s.
His inspiration was multi-faceted; he began to work in a new medium-silver and turquoise-as well as in increased scale, and using new techniques. The successful marriage of these two disparate traditions has become the foundation upon which each generation has maintained the tradition of excellence in craftsmanship and design that has come to be known as the “Patania Thunderbird” style.
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