This gorgeous necklace belonged to my grandmother who passed away in the 1970s. We would like to know more about it, she referred to it as “Old Pawn”. Any help identifying it’s origins will be very much appreciated. Thank you
Hard to tell if it is old pawn or not. A lot of the pawn shops and traders would scratch a code on the back that gave them the price they paid and inventory control. This doesn’t have that although a lot of traders switched to pawn tags. Not that it really maters as at least the piece is signed by the artist. I believe the signature belongs to Dennis James according to my research. However there is very little information available on him other than he is Navajo.
The stones are tough to tell, the large center stone has flecks of green in it and that is throwing me off a bit. That and the black chert makes me think Blue Diamond but I am not 100% sure. The beads are impressive. I love how the artist has used different sizes to add a different layer of texture to the piece and his own interpretation of a squash blossom style.
If I had to but a date on it I would say circa 1960-70. For insurance purposes I would put a value on it of $1000.00 to 1200. but Jason might be a better judge of that.
Thank you for the info SevernSound, we really appreciate it. We have another piece that also belonged to my Grandmother, it is a traditional blossom style. I will try to photograph it this weekend. I can’t remember if it is signed or not. I am very interested in the stones on both pieces and am delighted in the possibility of knowing what area they (stones) came from. As an Arizona native, I find it all very interesting and I wish I could find more information about Dennis James. I have looked on the internet and have not found any information about him. Thank you again for your time and information.