I purchased these Ernie Lister carved Red Mountain turquoise earrings years ago. They looked somewhat similar to a pair of earrings I let get away so when I saw these I bid and got 'em.
Maybe a year later, the very earrings that I let get away became available on auction and I got them too. At the time of purchase the owner, a former dealer, said the were replicas of Anasazi earrings that he had made to sell in his shop, but I later found a listing of the same earrings when they were originally for sale a few years earlier that described them as “Tab Earrings - Late 1800’s Hopi Style Replicas.”
Then later I came across a pair of earrings described as Pueblo Turquoise Tab Earrings circa 1910; they’re similar to the Ernie Lister earrings except these are about 100 years older and WAY more expensive. They sold to another collector.
I found it interesting that the Pueblo earrings looked similar to the earrings originally listed as Hopi (but later described as Anasazi replicas) and always wondered about the true origin of this style. There is so much more for me to learn.
I was pretty lucky that a find I let get away came back around again. Turns out the dealer went out of business by the time I decided to purchase those Hopi replica (or Anasazi replica) earrings. He stored them for a couple of years until he found another dealer to sell his stuff and I luckily found it on auction. I eventually ended up selling them (they were too heavy), but don’t lose hope if there’s something you really want out there.
