Navajo Silver Necklace, ca. 1885
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GUEST:
It was given to me, and it came through a family of our friends, and it had been purchased years ago out west, as they called it. My friend lived in New York, and she said it belonged to her mother's godmother. And I've, I've had it now for many years. I was told it's Navajo and that it's very old. And that's, that's basically what I know. I was told that the string was on there because that's how they used to do the...
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
The necklaces, so it would be adjusted to the buyer, whomever was going to be wearing it. I wear it occasionally, not a lot.
APPRAISER:
I would place its age at about 1885.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
And the warmth of your piece, which I adore, is the fact that it was-- these, this was made from smelted coinage. They would use the coins of the U.S. until that was deemed illegal, to deface coinage. And they also used Mexican pesos. The Navajo were settled mostly in New Mexico.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
This piece could have been made around the Gallup area. One of the traders that employed Mexicans to teach the tufa casting to the Navajo was Hubble, and he had the Hubble Trading Post.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Right outside of Gallup.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
So it well could be traced to that general area. It's so beautifully executed. There were only a handful that were masters at that point.
GUEST:
You say, yeah.
APPRAISER:
And this has a master's hand. This piece could have been an owned piece...
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Or it could have been made to sell at this time period.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
The crescent itself comes from the Moorish tradition of repelling the evil eye. You have a... a necklace that really speaks of the infancy of Navajo silver-making.
GUEST:
Wonderful.
APPRAISER:
And it's stunning. At auction, you would get between $5,000 and $7,000 for it.
GUEST:
Really? I'm very pleased to have it, and I will keep it in the family.
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