Hamumu - Copper Pendant on Leather Necklace
Hamumu - Copper Pendant on Leather Necklace
2 1/2" x 2 1/8" on adjustable leather chord.
With trade beads.
"Every aspect of this piece is based on cycles of transformation. The copper has been heat-treated and changed from a flat piece of metal to a pedant full of colour. Sand was at one time heated, melted, and transformed into the trade beads on the necklace. And the Butterfly depicted represents the cycle of life, from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis." – Joe Descoteaux
This piece was created for the exhibition ‘Cycles: Themes of Renewal in Northwest Coast Jewellery’ at Lattimer Gallery between September 18 – October 2, 2021.
Joe Descoteaux
CULTURAL GROUP:
Ojibway
BORN:
1964
BIRTHPLACE:
Kitchener, ON
Born in Ontario, Joe moved to British Columbia in the 1980s where he met his wife Cheryl Wadhams. Joe began working in the Northwest Coast style under the guidance of Cheryl and her uncles Don Dawson and Raymond Wadhams. After working in wood for a year, Joe learned jewellery making techniques from Lloyd Wadhams Jr. In 2007, at a potlatch in Alert Bay, Joe was given the name Hilamas, a traditional name from the Dawson family which means 'he fixes things'. In 2019, Joe was featured in the book Understanding Northwest Coast Indigenous Jewelry by author Alex Dawkins.
