I got this in the mail today, and my first thought was that the turquoise looked plastic. It’s really smooth and shiny, but I can feel where the color meets the matrix with my fingernail. Hoping it’s real! If so, can you tell me what mine it’s from?
Also, it was sold to me as vintage, although it looks like new other than a slight patina here and there. Any idea when it was made.
I would also like to know a little about the artist if you have any information or I site I could look at.
I thought the color looked pretty close on my phone, but now that they’re loaded, they look a little dull in the pics.
That is very nice. The turquoise is very similar to this cross I just got which has more matrix in it. Jason said it was most likely Chinese and included the next picture which looks very similar to yours.
@Currada, thank you. I did see a few things on eBay as well. Just not much on the artist or anything that would help me date the buckle. I love that buckle in the second link. I was really looking for that style but this one was more in my budget! I do like that mine looks like it will mix better with other styles besides Southwestern.
How do you know if it’s cast? Sand cast or tufa cast? Does that make it more special? I need a good book!
Vintage in listings just means it is not new. Even the terms “old Pawn” does not mean today what it once did. Antique was interpreted as +plus 100 years. Sellers can play pretty fast and loose with terms. The start would be to see when the artist started working and if they used different hallmarks at different times in their career. Yes, this comes from books and generous retailers that make information available on their websites.
Wrought vs cast, here is a tufa cast piece, note all the texture from the tufa stone that was carved to create the mold.
