Vintage Turquoise and Shell Necklace From Santo Domingo Pueblo

From creating the teeny tiniest micro-fine heishi beads of turquoise, shell and silver to making large statement beads, artists from Santo Domingo or Kewa Pueblo are known for their bead-making skills. 

Beads of natural materials like bones, stones and shells are the earliest form of Southwestern Indigenous jewelry. According to Lois Sherr Dubin in North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: From Prehistory to the Present, there's evidence of bead making in what would later become the American Southwest as early as 8800 BCE! That means when you wear this vintage Kewa necklace, you'll be connecting with some of the style, material, and techniques of ancient people. How cool is that!

This vintage Santo Domingo necklace falls under the big bead umbrella. The showy necklace is hand strung with hand rolled beads of turquoise and shell. Look closely, and you'll notice the beads are gently graduated in size - chunkier towards the center and smaller towards the top. The piece is finished with two silver beads and cones. 

The necklace measures 21 3/4" from end to end. The biggest center beads are about 3/4", and since they're made by hand, the widths vary.

Necklace is from the collection of a woman who acquired many of her pieces on Martha Struever's beloved Southwestern Native American art field trips.