Sam Patania took the time to come to the Medicine Man Gallery Studio for this episode of the Art Dealer Diaries. We've been kinda slow, hunkering down through quarantine, so it was wonderful to spend an hour and talk face to face with an actual human being. One of the best silversmiths in the business, Sam's has an amazing family history. He's a third-generation silversmith whose grandfather, Frank Patania Sr, opened the Thunderbird Shop in 1927 in Santa Fe and not long after that in 1937, came to Tucson. His grandfather was an immigrant with a third-grade education who came from Italy and ended up being friends with Georgia O'Keeffe and having dinners at La Fonda with Robert Oppenheimer. So for the people listening that are really into Patania jewelry or silversmiths in general, this will be very interesting for you all as we go through a lot of the Patania history, types of hallmarks used during different time frames, and the artistic process of one of the best silversmith's in the business.

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