Vtg Sterling Silver Pendant - Fine MIcro Inlay Yei - 2.5\" - J. Mason, C. Nez For Sale

This vintage sterling silver pendant has been beautifully crafted of very fine micro inlay. It shows a Yei figure in a rainbow of colorful micro inlay surrounded with turquoise. The back of the pendant is hand stamped with sun symbols. The pendant measures 2.5\" tall, including the loop at top and, 1 1/4\" wide. It is signed with the JM hallmark of Navajo silversmith James Mason and the C-Nez hallmark of Navajo silversmith Chester Nez. This pendant is in great vintage condition.

Throughout the 40 years that I have been in business, I have purchased jewelry from pawn shops throughout the Southwest that had collections of dead pawn. Most of these pawn shops and trading posts are now closed. The Native American would pawn his jewelry for immediate cash. The shop would hold it and charge interest until he could reclaim it. Dead pawn are the pieces that were never retrieved. Old Pawn Jewelry typically dates from the early 1900s to the 1970s. Most of the early pieces are not signed because it wasn\'t the Native American tradition to sign the pieces they crafted. Also, the turquoise in old pawn is turquoise that you can\'t get anymore because many of the mines have closed. And, the red and orange coral is rare because of the coral bleaching which is happening today.

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