This is the Herman Smith butterfly pin-pendant that I mentioned over here. Found it in a local consignment shop. Not cheap, but considerably less expensive than buying a new one would have been – and I didn’t pay shipping! Plus I love butterflies, so once I had wrestled my wallet into submission (and confirmed that the mark on it really was his), it was an easy decision.
Unfortunately I don’t have any history on it beyond the proprietor saying that the consignor originally bought it in New Mexico (IIRC). However, I’m wondering if it might be a slightly earlier piece, as I looked through several online listings for Herman Smith’s butterflies and they typically seem to feature (1) less elaborately curved antennae and (2) no eye dots, such as this one. In fact, I found only one other by him with those features (it was auctioned on estatesales-net in 2023.) But that’s just a guess, and it may have nothing to do with a shift in style.
If anyone has any thoughts on the turquoise, esp. the large oval that forms its body, I would love to hear. Chinese?