EARRING PROVENANCE:

I feel blessed to be able to offer these very old & super rare TURN OF THE CENTURY-traditional gold GUSANO Oaxacan earrings that came from the "Ellen Belber-Jiménez" estate.. Ellen was the wife to the famed jewelry designer Federico for 56 years until her unfortunate passing..(Please see my vast inventory of jewelry by Federico)

Ellen & Federico met down in Oaxaca in the mid-60's while she was there working with the UCLA Oaxaca Market Study Research Project & Federico was involved at that time in writing articles on Oaxaca's traditional Arts & Culture.. Ellen lived & breathed Oaxaca as a whole, from the beautiful art, to the historical jewelry, the hand woven textiles, the clothing, the food, etc. & like her husband, was a curator herself that could tell you everything about each & everything she owned since she was highly skilled on each subject.

Only collecting THE best, her tastes for Oaxaca jewelry were exquisite & owned nothing BUT the finest that Oaxaca offers.. These earrings came from her private collection which exhibit her fine tastes for the beautiful jewelry that came out of her loved Oaxaca. Much of the historical Oaxaca gold jewelry owned by Ellen & Federico, are still housed down at their museum in Oaxaca at the "Museo Belber Jimenez" ,which has one of the most phenomenal, historical collections of jewelry/Oaxaca textiles known to Oaxaca & the region..

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MUSEUM: PLEASE COPY/PASTE BELOW:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g150801-d10078011-Reviews-Museo_Belber_Jimenez-Oaxaca_Southern_Mexico.html

*********************

THE GUSANO:

This style of earring is called the "Gusano", which translates to "worm" in English & refers to the curved shape that the worm makes when it's moving along.. The Gusano is one of 5 of Oaxaca's most traditional designs and date all the way back to the 1800s.

*********************

THE EARRINGS:

These are some of the oldest Gusanos I've ever come across & it's not that they're just extremely old that makes them unique from the rest, but it's for the fact that you just don't come across Gusanos or many other pieces of Oaxaca jewelry with this "Back to Front" ear wire..This type of ear wire is actually what validates their age, which was very common to see way back in the 1800's to the early turn of the century.(See photos 10,11,12)

I actually thought it would be odd to put them on this way & possibly much more difficult than one would imagine, but actually found it to be quite easy! Each person will be different,so while some will find it easy,it may take others more time to get the hang of it.

They're designed in a 12k gold base (Professionally Tested) where the base is made with round 'cups' on the outer perimeter(See backside in the last photo) Each of the Keshi pearls are hand sewn into these 'cups' with fine gold wire & then are held in by the wire that is then twisted on the backside(See last photo) Because the pearls are in their natural irregular like form & the cups having a round form,the gold doesn't get completely covered, like it would say, if you put something round that's the same size as the cup.

These are extremely feminine & have an undeniable Oaxaca look that can be worn with many types of attire,from modern to traditional. Of course,a Mexican textile wardrobe is always the best, but definitely not limited to!

To see other’s from this collection,please stay here on “Earrings 1”. I also have a 18k gold link bracelet with a big 22K Gold 50 Pesos Coin that can be found under ‘bracelets”.