This necklace came to me from an estate. The seller described it as a peyote bird necklace. It’s 246 grams and tests as sterling silver. There are no marks on it.
A friend who deals in (and appraises) Native American jewelry initially looked at the low-quality estate photos and thought it might be a 70s Anglo tribute to the squash. When I received it and sent her clearer photos, however, she updated her opinion to 1970s Navajo, based on the settings, etc.
I shared it within a Facebook group, and only one other person had a similar piece (and sadly, she didn’t reply to my query about further information on it).
Would love to know more about it: origin, age, meaning value, etc.
@frostiblack Hi & Welcome. That’s a terrific looking SB necklace. It looks to be from the 1970s, imo. I’d go with it being a Peyote bird, too, though some may see a Thunderbird. Interesting that the tail is articulated. Without a hallmark (that can be identified), it’s hard to say whether or not the piece is Native American made. I’m not an appraiser so I can’t speak to its value. I’m hoping that others will chime in with some info for you.
So I find this piece to be fascinating, and I absolutely love it! Often peyote birds (water birds, loosely based on Anhingas, is my understanding) were/are used in Navajo work, but I don’t really know if this is Navajo made, or even Native made. It certainly could be, but it’s just enough different that without a hallmark I would not be comfortable saying one way or the other. I understand why your friend thought the settings look to be Navajo, but I’ve seen similar Anglo work, although that doesn’t mean I’m right! But in general if we don’t have a hallmark, and we don’t know the source of the piece of jewelry, it’s really hard to say 100% if something is Native made.
I don’t know how familiar you are with peyote birds, but it’s a symbol used by the Native American church. Sometimes you will see it used with other things like teepees. These aren’t particularly Navajo symbols, and originated with the Plains tribes. I think that’s also where the religion originated, but I’m not sure on that, (and I don’t have time to Google it right now), so hopefully other members will jump in and correct me if I’m off. I believe their use in jewelry was popularized in the '70s by artists such as Navajo Tommy Singer who first did chip inlay in Native American pieces (I have a cuff by him with a couple of these symbols).
I think it’s a really cool necklace, and I hope other members can help you more than I did.
Hi Kent,
The photo with the gentleman wearing it, in the midst of classic 1970s decor, is one for the ages. Was this published somewhere, or a personal photo, do you know? This is certainly one dramatic piece, Boogie Nights goes Southwestern. My question is what’s his footwear: boots? velvet slippers?
I agree with others that it will be hard to assign to Navajo/Native work without more info. (I definitely have seen other peyote bird jewelry with the tail articulated, as here.) Thank you for sharing!
Your friend who appraised it is a mutual friend and she knows her stuff.
I agree with her opinion as well as Patina and Zia’s: it give strong 70’s Navajo vibes, but without a hallmark I don’t think we can say for sure that it’s Navajo, or Native American. Native American jewelry was at peak popularity in the 70’s and there were a lot of non-Natives jumping on the bandwagon. The round beads are bench beads, machine pressed halves hand soldered in a production line but not considered hand made–extremely common in the 70’s. Congrats on owning a really cool and unique statement piece, and getting a fabulous deal on it!
You’re too kind— that was me the day I received the necklace. I was really excited to see it on, so I threw it on top of a turtleneck blank canvas! As for footwear, I dunno if I could pull of a velvet slipper, but I did wear out some heeled Fluevog boots with it!
Ah! Yes. Jessica is a gem. Thank you— it’s good enough to me to get an educated hunch or a consensus. I love the piece either way. It’s a strong statement piece for sure!
Thanks so much! I struggled trying to find similar. One individual on Facebook finally posted theirs; which was very similar! So maybe this one isn’t quite a one-off. Haha.
What an unusual necklace. I love how each “blossom” is made into a bird. I think a turtleneck might be mandatory with that necklace lest you get poked by a bird beak. Thanks for sharing.
