I bought this pair of earrings and am interested to learn more! No hallmark, one is stamped sterling. What are they depicting? Knifewing? Or just interesting contemporary design? Zuni or Navajo?
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The element composed of inlay resembles a Zuni Sunface, in my opinion.
Photo courtesy of Adobe Gallery in Santa Fe.
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That is a stunning Sunface! Thank you for your reply! I have a Zuni Sunface pin/pendant (vintage 1960ish) so I was thinking sunface too. But the inlay is different (no eyes/mouth). The silver part of the earrings seems to represent downward wings and tailwings. I have a Zuni thunderbird ring (also a sixties piece). But the earrings have no apparent beak. And that had me wondering and searching what these earrings might represent. Looking at the earrings from the back, it really seems a silouette with pronounced resting wings and a tail. I really like them 
(so sorry, English is not my first language).
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Lovely earrings, @KarenM. To me it looks like an interesting and unusual combination of elements not typically seen together in one piece, namely a Sunface on a Peyote bird motif.
Looking at the back of the earring, and the wear characteristics from the finishing, its clear the body of the pendant was lost wax cast, and tumble finished. What this tells us is that while the inlay was created by hand — and likely in the form of a template cut cabochon insert to be inlaid into a pre-cast or soldered on bezel cup — the body of the earring and inlay cabochon insert were likely produced in a production shop environment rather than at an individual silversmiths hand fabrication bench.
My guess would be that the earrings were made in a Native American style, but produced in an off shore workshop.
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A graceful and heartfelt thank you for sharing your knowledge! As a coincedence, I was looking at the earrings through a magnifying glass this afternoon and yes: the bezel is solderded! It had me thinking as well: probably NA style, but not NA made The sunface is not a real sunface and also the silver body seems some sort of interpretation. Going to look up the Peyote bird motif!!
Still think it’s a lovely pair of earrings, but they felt different from the start and had me wondering what is was that seems a bit off.
You have answered that question. Thank you!
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You are quite welcome, @KarenM . This is a very interesting area, and it’s a real pleasure to see your sincere curiosity regarding the pieces you own, and clear eyed open minded approach to your personal research.
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