THE PIN/BOLO:

This picturesque piece you can say is like a painting, but instead of using brushes, paints & a canvas, this is made (‘Painted’) with natural colors from our earth’s beautiful resources. Made primarily of shells, this is made with warm, earthy colors of fall. Dominating the color palette are various colors of brown shells & various tones of orange shell. White mother of pearl, red brown shell & turquoise are used as accents.

The beauty in Zuni work is for their exquisite lapidary skills, so each & every detailed piece in this, is literally hand cut & then shaped, thus creating the depiction of the Snake Dancer. The material is mosaic inlaid atop of a sterling backing & all the detail in front, lays in between bars of silver. The lapidarian has to be right on in the cutting & shaping, since the pieces have to fit in between those bars, perfectly. The inlay mainly lays flush, while some, like the turquoise bracelets, the turquoise necklace, the snake, hand mits, are slightly raised.

ABOUT WEARING:
Designed in a statuesque 4.25” size, this versatile Pin OR Bolo piece can be worn by either man or woman. This was made in the 1940’s time period, before the Bennett C31 bolo clasp came out. It has the earlier style for the cord to go through.(See last 2 photos) If worn as a bolo, you would have to provide the cord & because of the hole size & the bar below to thread the cord through are fairly small,my guess is this would take either a 3 mm diameter cord or no bigger than a 4 mm. (See last 2 photos) You would then buy sterling cones to add to the ends to finalize it. I do believe this was worn more as a pin, since it came like it is, without the bolo cord. If worn as a pin, the only fabric I wouldn’t put it on would be a fragile type fabric like silk.

This is a piece that has Native American historical value & is highly collectible. Please go through all photos to experience all the detailed workmanship involved!
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SPECIFICS:

ARTIST: Unknown( Not a Leo Poblano as you can see the name "Leo" written on the backside)

CIRCA: 1940’s

TRIBE: Zuni Pueblo, NM

METAL: Sterling Silver (Tested)

WEIGHT: 1.35 Ounces-38.3 Grams

SNAKE DANCER MEASUREMENT: 4.25" x 1-7/8" (Longest to widest Points)

MATERIALS: White Mother of Pearl Shell, Turquoise, Brown Shells, Melon Shell, Spiny Oyster Shell, Abalone,Red Shell,Serpentine

TECHNIQUE: Exquisite Lapidary Art-Mosaic Inlay

CONDITION: Excellent Used Vintage Condition-Extremely well kept, no cracks, chips, no missing stones.

HALLMARK: None (Typical of Era)

Comes Gift Boxed

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PLEASE READ BEFORE PURCHASING:
*****To give you close up photos,pictures tend to make the item look much more larger & everything is more magnified & exaggerated than in actuality. So to get an accurate idea of how big this is, what you can do is , pull out a tape measure if you have one (or ruler) & compare to my given measurements above*****

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SIGNATURE REQUIREMENT:

Anything with this kind of price tag, will have a mandatory signature confirmation requirement & will come insured.(This is reflected in the shipping price) . If you're not home in the day & need it shipped where it can be signed for,please change that in your "Ship To" section before I create the shipping label***I'm sorry if this may be an inconvenience, but I do not ship expensive pieces without one. This is for your safety & mine.