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This lovely 15 strand Pueblo necklace features a blue sea of Natural Morenci Turquoise nuggets separated with hand rolled olive shell heishi. At the top are stamped 14k gold cones. The Morenci turquoise nuggets have the natural matrix with pyrite and quartz throughout. 314 grams of beautiful natural turquoise.
A great deal of hard work goes into the making of these type necklaces. The smooth, carefully shaped nuggets and fine workmanship of the heishi lends itself to a master at his or her craft. The necklace is 17" long (one side) or 34" total length including the 1 1/2" gold cones, hook & eye. The little nuggets are 4-6mm in size, so there are hundreds in this necklace. Artist unknown. It is just beautiful on!
This style of beadwork is thought to be the oldest form of
jewelry from New Mexico and is still practiced today mostly among Native
Americans of the Santo Domingo (Kewa) and San Felipe Pueblos. These necklaces have been worn for decades by many different tribes. It predates
the metalworking and lapidary techniques practiced by the Navajo, Hopi and
Zuni, which were introduced by Europeans.
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