Hi all, sorting through inherited items, trying to figure what’s what. So all opinions welcome! 1st pair, silver…native or no? Handmade or machine?
Pair marked MKM Sterling, green stone…native or no? Thoughts on stone? There are some other pieces floating around on the web with this hallmark, but no backstory.
I have no expectations, just trying to get an idea of what they are and aren’t. As always, thanks for chiming in! (All acquired since a 2011 fire, but no idea on real age?)
Hi @tepowell. Given the absence of tooling marks on the back, porosity features, and apparent mold separation lines at the rear, the semi hoops appear to be machine cast. Most likely not Native made, but you never really know who’s working with the equipment.
The turquoise earrings are hand fabricated using pre-cast leaf and flower. Again, without provenance, impossible to say who made them and whether or not they were fashioned by Native hands.
Thanks so much for that input! The collection I inherited has a mix of NA and sort-of-NA/Southwestern. Both attractive pairs, just want to make sure I give accurate billing as I try to rehome them 
(unlike one particular ebay seller, I was sure they weren’t Zuni, even without walruses!)
