long Mexican Deco silver and stone Necklace ~ ancient beads and cascabeles

Generously long and imposing in its presence, this early Mexican Deco silver, copper, brass and stone necklace with cascabeles is a great example of the way ancient Mesoamerican artifacts found their way into jewelry created during the country's 20th c. Silver Renaissance. Statuettes, clay "masks", beads of stone and silver, carved pieces of bone were unearthed on a daily basis in Mexico's countryside either by accident as people worked the land or as a result of deliberate "digging" to find them. Many of the period's most renowned designers, Spralting and Davis among them, were avid collectors of ancient and folk art and more often than one might have thought, such old elements were used as centerpieces in their jewelry. The necklace with cascabeles presented here is a combination of such ancient elements - in our case, the stone beads - and newer ones crafted in the 1930s or 1940s, if not even a little earlier. If one looks closely, it becomes evident that these are bi-cone beads with larger than usual, hand-drilled holes and a roundness that is not so ... perfectly round. I want to believe that by creating separate stations for them and flanking each one with mixed copper and brass beads, the anonymous maestro intended to underscore their age and set them apart while at the same time incorporating them into his creation...

Size / Weight: 28.5" long; central station is 2 1/8" wide with a drop of 2 1/2" (including the cascabeles); 142.1 grams

Hallmarks / Date: not signed for maker nor hallmarked for metal content yet all silver elements have been tested and guaranteed to be solid of at least .900 purity though I believe that most elements are sterling (I suspect the cascabeles themselves might also be older than the silver beads and the caps on the stone bars; if so, they might be made out of .900 silver); 1930s-40s

Condition: excellent vintage with beautiful variations of green in the stones, striking visual presence, very musical with great patina and no damage or repairs noted

Inv# 15514