Sorry limited info/photos. Is it possible to date this necklace based on the “beads and blossoms” also curious if they are handmade? Value everyone’s input!
Thank You.
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Hi Tara. Beautifully executed necklace! The pieces photographed are completely hand made. IMO, no way to date it strictly from the work, but this is the work of a highly skilled silversmith working in a traditional Navajo style. Creating the beads and blossoms this way would have required working with solders which flow at different temperatures in order for the pieces to stay together while various components were fitted and assembled at extremely high temperatures. Don’t know if it is signed, but whoever created it really knew what they were doing.
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Definitely has some age. Absolutely beautifully proportioned blossoms. I can’t tell from these pics if there are three petals or four: there are conflicting sources about four being the older number, vs. three. So it’s unfortunately not that reliable a dating method.
What I see that indicates age/wear are the “blown out” holes at both ends of the bead, indicative of being handmade and of wear over time from contact with the adjoining silver.
Now I want to see the necklace!
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That is so beautiful! That’s more like a squash blossom I could be enticed to wear. It looks a little less heavy.
I don’t know that this helps at all, but it is interesting what Chicfarmer said about the number of petals variation in dating. These earrings were bought by mother most definitely in '45 or '46, and they have three petals. She did not have the squash blossom necklace to go with it, because I’m sure she couldn’t have afforded it. So I don’t know if this is even the same thing, but they have 3 petals.
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A real beauty. Just as a data point, Western Trading Post is selling its cousin as 1920s-1930s:
https://westerntradingpost.com/a-phenomenal-1920s-era-sterling-silver-squash-blossom-necklace/
I speculate that some pieces like this could be '50s-70s as part of “revival” production. We’re not gonna worry about the foxtail per se, since old things do get restrung. Without seeing the silverwork in person and no provenance, it’s hard to know. I wonder if @Jason might take a look.
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