The "Emergence Jewelry" Series by Phillip Honanie
Inspired by the Hopi creation story and brought to life in wearable form by master Hopi silversmith, Phillip Honanie.
In 1976, Hopi artist Phillip Honanie (1950–2017) created a landmark series of jewelry inspired by his own 1975 painting The Beginning. That painting (seen right), a vivid red and yellow acrylic composition, depicts the Hopi emergence story, where the first people emerge from Sipapu and begin life in the Fourth World. Honanie translated the sacred narrative into a powerful series of sculptural works in silver, gold, and stone, collectively known as the Emergence Jewelry Series.Each piece in the series mirrors figures from The Beginning, including Māasaw (the guardian of the Fourth World), First Man, First Woman, their children, and a Kwan: a priest of the One-Horn Society. The jewelry transforms these flat, symbolic figures into three-dimensional forms, maintaining their essential shapes and meanings while imbuing them with material weight and spiritual presence.
At the center of the series is an extraordinary pendant, featuring a hand-carved malachite face of Māasaw. Over four inches tall and made of silver and 14k gold, the piece shows Māasaw emerging from the Sipapu. He holds an ear of corn in one hand, while the other rests upon the head of First Man, symbolizing blessing and connection. A trail of cornmeal flows down his body toward the Sipapu, a striking visual representation of origin and spiritual continuity.
Although the jewelry was designed in the 1970s, it was not made available for sale until the winter of 2023. These pieces are unprecedented representations of stories rooted deep in ancient Hopi cosmology. The figures of First Man and First Woman are beyond rare. In relation to First People legacies, some Hopi teachings reference relationships with “star people” as part of humanity’s early existence, concepts that are rarely, if ever, spoken of openly outside Hopi circles. Honanie’s work offers a profound and respectful glimpse into this deeper spiritual narrative.The Emergence Jewelry series was originally created for a collaborative effort with Kopavi International, led by Richard Mehagian, and was featured in American Indian Art Magazine throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. It stands as a rare intersection of Hopi visual storytelling, contemporary Native jewelry design, and cultural preservation.
As described in Hopi Gold: Hopi Silver, the Sipapu, or symbolic place of emergence, is “the point from which the creation of all life and forms issued and the point to which the breath bodies of the deceased travel to return to the spiritual realm.” Honanie’s Emergence Jewelry gives this spiritual concept physical form, preserving a sacred origin story in metal, stone, and silhouette.Now nearly fifty years old, the Emergence series stands as a masterwork of modern Hopi jewelry: highly rare, deeply symbolic, and profoundly personal. We are honored to represent these pieces at Garland’s as part of the Kopavi Collection and to share Phillip Honanie’s vision with a new generation of collectors.
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