Zuni - Sterling Silver
Opal Dragonfly Pin Pendant
HK Item #PN472

Opal Dragonfly sterlling silver pin pendant - front view

Materials	turquoise, coral, mother of pearl, Read about stones sterling silver, Read about silver
Size	1 1/2" x 1"
Hallmarks	inscribed: JE Zuni
Artist	unknown
Condition	pre-owned, excllent, stones firmly set with no cracks, chips or missing pieces

Paula says - "In my opinion, this pin pendant shows all the design characteristics and workmanship of being Native American made. But because we cannot attribute the JE inscription to a specific artist we can't legally sell it as Native American made - read more."

Pin Pendant means that there is a pin fastener on the back AND a loop so the piece can be worn as a pin or as a pendant.

Questions or more details.

Paula's Collection

During my early years, I accompanied my parents on trips every year, usually to Florida to escape the harsh midwest winters but also out west on summer road trips. During those trips, I accumulated the type of tourist grade Native American jewelry that a kid would buy and now, years later those items are referred to as being "Fred Harvey" style. Fred Harvey was an entrepreneur who created an avenue for Indians to make and sell jewelry to the tourists. Jewelry of the Fred Harvey era has typical Indian kitsch of arrows, tomahawks, tipis, thunderbirds and so on and was most produced from 130- throughout the 1950s.

You can read more about Fred Harvey here.

From childhood through college and beyond, I had an eye for that type of jewelry and collected it, yet rarely wore it !! About the only jewelry I wore for years was a Swiss Army watch and my wedding band. My Mother, also a jewelry lover, gave me a few vintage Native American pieces she had picked up. That really got me interested in older pawn items.Yet I was a collector, not a wearer.

Then suddenly, about ten years ago I started wearing first one Native American item, then another and soon I felt incomplete if I didn't wear at least one bracelet and necklace or pendant. Now I wear rings, belt buckles, watches and all things Native American. My favorites include Opal Dragonfly items, water bird pendants, Hopi bracelets and pendants, anything with Man in the Maze on it, silver beads, heishi of all kinds, storyteller bracelets, rings of all kinds, all kinds of fetishes and more.

Once I started working here at Horsekeeping and they added Native American jewelry to the website, my personal collection quickly outgrew my jewelry box.....so much so that I had to make a rule. Maybe some of you have done this with the clothes or shoes or purses in your closet. For every new item I bring into my personal collection, I must trade out at least one item. I've been doing this for years and now have quite a box of items that I will list in my own section "Paula's Collection".

When I first began collecting Native American items, I didn't realize the importance of knowing the artist's name - if I liked something and wanted it, I bought it. But now with all of our personal contacts with artists, our reference library, and our interest in providing as much information as we can to our customers, we are all very interested in finding out the artist's name, relatives, and tribal affiliation. So I'll do my best to give you the most information I can on each piece.

I hope you enjoy browsing through our pawn shop - and Paula's Collection - it is a treasure trove of American History!

NOTE: Items in our Vintage Shop are either USED or NEW. They might come from inheritances, estate sales, private collections, and store liquidations. Many items are brand new (, New Old Stock) and in perfect condition while others may show tarnish, scratches and other signs of use. Major issues will be described in detail and shown in photos. Vintage Shop items are sold as described and are not returnable.

Why isn't this item called Native American?

The US Department of the Interior Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 and its recent Amendments require that items described as Native American or Indian be made by an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe. Furthermore, government regulations suggest that all attributions include the Native American Indian's name, tribe and federal tribal enrollment number. Because it is impossible to identify the artist for many vintage items, even if they are authentic Indian made items, we cannot and will not use the words Native American or Indian in association with such pieces.

Read about authenticity of Native American Indian jewelry.

Horsekeeping LLC - Definitions of Jewelry Age and Condition © 2015 Horsekeeping LLC © Copyright Information
Patina	A dark or colored film of oxidation that forms naturally on metal exposure to air and other elements. It is often valued for its aesthetically pleasing appearance.
Vintage	30 years or older.
NOS	New Old Stock. Retail store inventory from at least 10 years ago.
Pre-owned	An item that has been used.

Our Rescue Mission
of Native American Indian Jewelry and Artifacts

We are in the vintage Native American jewelry rescue business and are passionate about finding new homes for used and vintage jewelry and artifacts. That's why we purchase Native American pieces from estates, inheritances, collection downsizing and New Old Stock () inventory from closed stores.

Often people contact us after taking a box of Native American jewelry to their local pawn shop and find that a pawn shop is mainly interested in melt value of the metals and not in preserving the beautiful historic pieces. To hear that people have considered selling these treasures for melt value makes us truly sad.

Melt value is usually far below what we would offer for the jewelry. Yet we can't pay retail price for items because of the time and cost involved in finding new homes for them. We have to research, often repair and restore the jewelry, photograph and list each item on our website, and sometimes hold pieces in inventory for years until the right buyer comes along.

We hope you'll find something special in our vintage shop that will complete yet another circle of our jewelry re-homing mission.

Zuni - Sterling Silver Opal Dragonfly Pin PendantHK Item #PN472

Paula's Collection

Why isn't this item called Native American?

Our Rescue Missionof Native American Indian Jewelry and Artifacts

Zuni - Sterling Silver
Opal Dragonfly Pin Pendant
HK Item #PN472

Our Rescue Mission
of Native American Indian Jewelry and Artifacts