Vintage Navajo Silver Animal Necklace

This adorable vintage Navajo silver necklace will certainly capture your heart with its nine handmade animals. Each one is as full of whimsy and personality as the next. Look at the care their Navajo maker used to bring them to life! 

The necklace is unsigned but attributed to Ella Peter who was born in 1943 and has a particular gift for depicting our animal friends in jewelry.

Animals in Native American art are one of my own favorite things, so I felt inclined to give each of these precious creatures their own name. They haven't been accustomed to these names for long, so if you'd like to rename them, you're welcome to. Currently, though, meet the following creatures from top to bottom:

Godwin the squirrel

Felisha the chipmunk

Blanche the desert tortoise

Jackson the skunk

Beatrice the beaver

Arthur the armadillo

Molly & Benjamin the two bunnies who are wildly in love

Oliver the coyote

If you're fortunate enough to live in the Southwest, or if you've come here on vacation, you may have seen some of the family members of these gals and guys in real life.

They've done some living over the years, and they currently have a bit of patina, but the necklace will come with a polishing cloth so you can shine them up in all their silver splendor if you'd like.

This sweet necklace measures 27" from end to end. Oliver the coyote is 3 1/4" x 2 3/8". The other animal friends measure from 1 1/2 - 3" long, so this is a showy necklace. It's strung on a silver chain. 

It is one of two pieces that came to Turquoise & Tufa from a daughter who had inherited them from her mother. It was originally acquired in either Tucson or Santa Fe, and here are some endearing words written by the daughter about her mother, "She was a realtor with a very big personality and loved to dress accordingly with "statement" jewelry. She knew everybody and could talk to anybody. As kids, my sisters and I were mortified to go anywhere with her." 

Even if you aren't somebody who has the gift of talking to anybody, this necklace is for you because these little creatures will elicit smiles from near and far even if you don't say a word.

One more neat tidbit about this necklace for the country music fans out there - a similar one was sold in an auction of Tanya Tucker's jewelry, so besides being a Country Music Hall of Famer, she's got some great taste!