Jan Loco “Spirit of the Rock” Necklace [SOLD]

Warm Springs Apache jewelry artist Jan Loco uses a unique method to create texture on the silver. To obtain the desired surface, she places a sheet of silver on a rock, and then repeatedly pounds it with a hammer. Eventually, the small aberrations of the rock will be reflected on the silver. In addition, she uses different grades of steel wool to achieve various textures.

As a young woman, Jan Loco reached out to sculptor and painter Allan Houser to learn more about her Apache heritage after she learned she was adopted. She found she was related to the great Apache leader Chief Loco. Her jewelry is inspired by the symbolism and legends of her Apache ancestors.  Influenced by imagery from her Apache heritage, her designs reflect the heavens, Apache legends as well as plants and animals of the Southwest. One image she frequently uses is the four-point morning star.

In this elegant silver and obsidian necklace, she combined five hand-hammered silver morning stars with beautiful obsidian and handmade silver beads. The amount of time she spent making the star crosses was astonishing, as each was hand hammered and cut with simple tools— shears and a hammer. Finishing off the texture, she used a combination of different grades of steel wool. Fittingly, she named the piece “Spirit of the Rock.” A similar piece, if not the same one, is featured in Diana Pardue’s book, Contemporary Southwest Indian Jewelry.

This is one of the finest pieces of Jan Loco’s work we have ever seen. It is a significant and rare work of art by one of the most talented Southwestern jewelers.  

Condition: The Jan Loco “Spirit of the Rock” Necklace is in excellent original condition.

Provenance: From a gentleman in Santa Fe

Reference: Contemporary Southwest Jewelry by Diana Pardue, 2007:82