I pulled out a shoe box labeled “bird nests” and found this forgotten pendant in one of the nests. It looks pretty old, Pueblo, and… that’s all I know. What is the binding material? How old is it? Where is it from?
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That is a unique piece. Looks like someone applied Turquoise chips to a shell. They might have used material that was often used as a backing for cabochons.
Kewa or Santo Domingo Pueblo is my guess, they are famous for this. Likely Devon or a similary adhesive.
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Devon? I assume thats a brand name for a glue? Could it indicate the era it is from? I was particularly amazed by the view which looks like someones teeth. So there is a wad of clay-like stuff on the inside. Is that the Devon?
Devcon product varieties list for different applications:
http://www.itwconsumer.com/devcon-products/category.cfm?id=Epoxies
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This is one of those things that is going to be pretty difficult to date. You might have the best chance determining the age. The old depression era Santo Domingo necklaces had car battery backings to help date them. However, this turquoise could have been just hanging out in a scrap box and the artist decided to use it recently. The natural stone and color definitely gives it an aged look but doesn’t mean it is old. The shoe box much more likely holds the mystery. When was the box stored? Who put it in the box? Where did they get it from? Answer those and that will tell you.
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I am still unsure of how long its been in the box but I know my mom put it there. I’ll just consider it old. Just one more question about it though, two actually. What is the sandy looking adhesive(?) on the inside of the shell? It doesn’t look like the black around the stones but might look like the underlayer. I’m guessing it holds the silver finding on there.
And should I get that missing turquoise repaired or would that detract? Its not super noticeable.