Five Strand Kewa Pueblo Coral Necklace with Turquoise Jaclas [SOLD]

This five-strand coral necklace consists of polished tube-shaped orange coral beads, with small silver beads and round turquoise discs that are randomly interspersed between. Artists of the Navajo Nation and of the Pueblos have been cutting and shaping coral, turquoise and shell for millennia. Passed down through family members, the process requires patience and precision.

These coral beads were individually worked to form rounded oval tubes. The coral is orange in color and the turquoise is sky blue in color.  They have been polished to a high sheen and strung.  The strands are tied off and finished in a pueblo wrap.  

Native Americans began to use coral shortly after it was introduced to them by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. The beautifully colored jewel intrigued them. Strands of coral were valued and worn as a form of currency.  Today, coral is one of the most sought materials used by Native American artists.

Added, in traditional Native fashion, is a pair of turquoise jaclas.  They were formed by cutting turquoise in small squares, stringing them on cotton thread and sanding them by rubbing them over and over on sandstone.  Jaclas are composed of two loops of turquoise and shell strung individually and then tied together in a fashion by which they can be hung from a necklace.  Originally, in the 19th century, each of the units was made for use as earrings.  When not being worn, they were hung on the necklace for storage.  Eventually, their use as earrings ceased and their use as a pendant on a necklace became permanent.

Historic photographs show necklaces with jaclas hung over the neck of a deer mounted on one’s wall.  When the dancer was not wearing the jewelry, it would then be hung around the deer’s neck.  It is not unusual to see necklaces such as these still being hung around the neck of a mounted deer in a pueblo home.  It is a sign of respect for the deer.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Five Strand Kewa Pueblo Coral Necklace with Turquoise Jaclas is from the collection of a resident of Colorado

Recommended Reading: INDIAN JEWELRY OF THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST by Sarah Peabody and William A. Turnbaugh

Relative Links:  necklace, earrings, jewelry, Kewa Pueblo