Apache Hand Hammered Sterling Silver Spider Woman Cross Bola Tie by Jan Loco [SOLD]

Jewelry designed with forged hand-hammered finishes and Spider Woman crosses has become an accepted trademark of Warm Springs Apache jeweler Jan Loco.  This sterling silver hand forged Spider Woman cross bolo/bola tie is typical of that style.  Inscribed on verso is primitive hand forged, J. Loco and sterling. The Spider Woman silver cross is equipped with a pair of silver wire loops on verso through which the leather is inserted. The cross could be removed from the leather and used for threading a neck scarf should a woman wish to wear it in that manner.

Jan Loco (b.1949-) began making jewelry in 1988. She developed a unique method of creating jewelry without the use of any power tools.  Using only heavy-duty shears, she cut and fashioned her piece to the desired shape, after which she hammered it with a specially selected rock until she achieved the desired texture.  This is a laborious task, but she felt it honored her ancestry to use items of nature rather than power tools.

Jan Loco became interested in Apache symbolism and legend when, as a young adult, she discovered her Apache ancestry. Her work is inspired by the stories of her ancestors, incorporating designs reflecting the heavens, Apache legends as well as plants and animals of the Apache homeland.  She did not learn of her Warm Springs Apache heritage from her adoptive parents until she was an adult. It was then that she learned she was the great granddaughter of Chief Loco, one of the last of the Apache chiefs, who had been imprisoned in Florida in 1886 by the U. S. government.

Jan Loco no longer is making jewelry.  She moved from New Mexico some years ago and her whereabouts are unknown.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Apache Hand Hammered Sterling Silver Spider Woman Cross Bola Tie by Jan Loco is from the collection of a resident of Santa Fe

Recommended Reading: American Indian Jewelry II: A-L, 1,800 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf