This necklace has several features that we look out for as warning signs when considering if a fetish necklace is imported:
- brightly colored or nontraditional carving material, including block or composite
- a large, central figure
- pen shell heishe
- carvings that are flat in shape and lack detail
- unusual or unidentifiable animals
Other things to look out for:
- “stacked” fetishes
- cord wrapped backs
- more than 3 strands
Also consider what you paid and where you bought it. Genuine Zuni fetish necklaces will run about $300 per strand and it is pretty unusual to find one at an antique store, ect. Unfortunately imports outnumber genuine necklaces by at least 10 to 1. The rules above are sometimes broken, but when you start to see multiple rules being broken, as in the necklace you posted, it almost always points to an import. I like to refer people who inquire about fetish necklaces to this thread, which has some helpful information published by The Keshi Foundation, a non-profit promoting Zuni art: