Plains Glass Beaded Hide Necklace with Spiny Oyster Shell as Pendant

Plains (Likely) Possibly Pueblo

19th Century | Glass Beads, Shell, Hide | Item 2018

This is an early and wonderful Native necklace. The attribution is not known, as the original collector found items directly from the Natives in both Oklahoma and the Pueblos in the 1960s through the 1970s. The necklace is a string of mixed, large, glass beads with a spiny oyster shell as the final pendant. The glass beads look to mirror each other on both sides and while this is clear, not all the beads match each other. Most of the beads are round, but some are tubular and one, the green one, is faceted. One of the deep blue beads towards the top has white glass inlaid into it as a pattern. The teeth are likely deer and show great age. The spiny oyster shell is likely much older than the 19th century. The shell pendant finishes with a well worn and beautiful deep red, glass bead tethered with hide. It’s possible this deep red bead has a white center.