Identifying my Squash Blossom necklace

I wondered about your avatar, it’s cool! I’m as sure as I think I can be about my cuff being an actual Fred Harvey piece, because I trusted the gentleman. He told me a lot about Fred Harvey, the jewelry, and the company and how they made it, why they made it, etc. He was so wonderful. It makes me sad when we lose such amazing people.

On another odd note, my avatar is a GIANT (and I mean that, my head only reaches halfway up to the base when I’m standing next to it) painted sculpture of a Canada goose that sits outside the town of Wawa, Ontario, Canada. Wawa means goose in Ojibwa. We used to go there a lot when I was a little kid.

And now I’m sorry, @MaryL, I’ve hijacked your post a bit. Your jewelry is beautiful!.

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Hi Steve, Not much on the back of the earrings, but maybe some clues. See first two pix which are the back of the single earring with the single stone in it. One taken to show “sterling sterling” on the screw and the other to show some kind of hash marks on the back of the earring portion. Maybe letters or numbers at the top where it looks blackened and tarnished, and within the scratches or marks below the screw I can see R4. Anything else? I can’t tell.


There doesn’t seem to be anything at all on the back of the cross. See photo below.

The other earrings, the matching pair and one very similar single one have “sterling” on the screw and some marks (or scratches?). See below. I don’t see any marks on the pair, but when I zoom in I think I see some kind of X on the single earring. I’m actually not sure what to look for.


Mary

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I wonder if you could have one of them made into a ring? Maybe the one that looks like the earrings and then you’d have a set.

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Hi OrbitOrange,
Regarding your comment that the bracelet photo isn’t close/focused, I took a couple more pix. Do these help at all?


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Ziacat - Brilliant idea. I had an oval dishta style ring with two blossoms inlaid, which was stolen along with most of my other jewelry when we were away at Thanksgiving this past year. I’m still mourning the loss of some special non-turquoise pieces as well as that ring.

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I understand your confusion, and I think it illustrates exactly why Fred Harvey jewelry isn’t a great term. When most people say Fred Harvey jewelry I they’re referring to jewelry made for the tourist market, mostly commercial but sometimes Native made as chicfarmer pointed out. In most cases it would be very hard to know whether it was actually sold through the Fred Harvey company unless the provenance was known, perhaps this is the case for your bracelet. Occasionally you will see these pieces with original packaging or stickers which can give you that provenance and is cool.

Here’s an old thread where I made a post comparing the old Zuni row bracelets with their machine made commercial imitations:

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Yes, those are better pictures, thank you. I think you have a genuine Zuni bracelet with real turquoise here. It’s a very nice collection you have inherited. The marks on the back of the earrings don’t tell you much other than the commercial screw back pieces (soldered to the hand made earrings) are sterling.

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have you seen the movie? thinkin’ it was just called “the harvey girls” ? Judy Garland
never liked musicals so… no review.

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Thank you, great info. I actually remember reading that post! Very helpful. And no, I don’t have a sticker or a box to prove it’s actual Fred Harvey company jewelry, but I do trust the shop owner who gave me written word of what the piece was and about the time it was made. And that’s okay, cause I don’t intend to sell it. I didn’t just stumble on his shop, I had looked him up because of I’d read about his shop in a book I had. And now it’s closed😩

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Yes, I think that’s what it was called, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it, but it would have been a long time ago. My mother loved Judy Garland so I probably watched it with her. I love her voice, but her movies are a bit slow for me. Did you know the song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas came from Meet Me in St Louis? That one’s also a bit slow for my taste.

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I was sitting there trying to think if you could put both on one necklace, and then I thought, oh! A ring! I’m so sorry you had your stuff stolen; that just makes me sad.

I love your cuff!! Whoever made it!

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OK to all, and thanks, OrbitOrange for the separate post re the Zuni cuff. Very informative, especially to a newbie like me. Thank you all so much for your input. NOW…I truly would like to sell the squash blossom necklace and the cuff bracelet, and (if possible) the cross (which actually might not be worth very much in itself). I am going to keep and adapt the earrings. I would prefer not to have to deal with the craziness of eBay, although I have seen similar-looking (not as many blossoms or stones) squash blossoms which have actually SOLD there for from $800 to $2600. I have also seen several “buyers” online - National Jewelry Buyers in Albuquerque, Horsekeeping.com, Medicinemangallery.com, and Precious Elements are the ones I especially noticed in a quick search. I’m not asking to start a good/bad comment section about any of those places. However, if any of you have a particularly good experience in buying/selling the kind of pieces I have, and you are willing to recommend someone you trust, I would much appreciate hearing that information. I’m pretty much shooting in the dark here. I think my pieces are authentic, so I think that is in my favor. I would love these pieces to go to a good home eventually. Do I need to drive/fly from Los Angeles to Arizona or New Mexico to show my pieces to someone in person? Ideas???

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For the necklace only: Your choices are outright sale or consign. Only a website that sells similar material and needs more inventory will agree to buy outright; expect the reputable sites to be pretty deep in inventory and thus less motivated to buy. Otherwise, you’ll get offered to consign. You’ll be offered an arrangement, might be 60/40–as in, you get 60 pct of the final selling price. Hence, the retail price tag you see out there is one thing, and what you’ll achieve as a consigner–and how soon—is another.

Good pictures and description are sufficient. The reseller may say it’s contingent upon seeing the goods in person. You get paperwork stating the agreed-upon terms.

The other items are unlikely to be taken on by a major site. If they did take it, it would be at a very low return to you.

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Vickie Turbeville is in your area; you might want to contact her about selling or consigning:

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There is another option that I discovered during these COVID times. There are private Facebooks that are specific to Native American jewelry. Since the markets and shows were closed there are even native artists who are members. Some are for discussion, some specialize in Zuni, some Navajo, some Pueblo etc. There are some that allow selling but be advised that if you post something good you will be bombarded with questions. Normally nice things sell quickly. Only accept PayPal goods and services (they will charge a fee of 3-4%) but will give your some recourse if you should need it. If you have any questions you can message one of the group administrators. There are some very knowledgeable people in the groups (but not all). Best of luck!

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VERY NICE CHOICES for me to go ahead with. You folks are the best! I will start looking into selling possibilities.

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I have an appointment to meet with Vicki Turbeville on April 19, as she wants to look at my entire (small) collection. Will see how it goes. Thank you all for your input. Wish me luck.
Mary

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Yay! Good luck! I’m interested what she has to say about the pieces. She has a few bracelets similar to yours on her website currently.

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Saw Vicki yesterday, and she bought almost my entire collection. She is also having posts put onto the back of one pair of screw-on earrings (I found it’s mate), and having the single earring which looks very similar to those earrings made into a small ring with a double shank on the sides. I was left with only a few small pieces, one of which wasn’t even really sterling silver and might not have been real turquoise. You never know for sure when you inherit something and don’t know its background. I think my mother in law may have purchased those items in Mexico. Thank you very much for your referral to Vicki. She was lovely.

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Would you mind letting us know how the ring turns out? I’m considering taking the bottom stones off some dangle earrings that are too heavy for me anymore, and having them made into a ring. They were my mom’s. I guess your post got me thinking!

Glad this all worked out so well for you!

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