Antique Totem Necklace from 1968

Hi Paula,

When i was 10, in 1968 my mom and i took an across country road trip for the summer and stayed all over out west. I bought this necklace, which is like a 5 inch totem  w/ turquoise & coral inlaid in silver  both sides are ornate & i just came across it again in my moms old cedar chest. I scanned pics of it and know nothing about. could you tell me about it and or if its valuable. Please it has all handmade silver beads round and long ones and the totems nose is even turquoise-its very unusual thats why i got it, when i was little but mom took it away and hid it from me cause i played with it! I got it back now.

Vonda

Hi Vonda,

Even though the front photo is terribly out of focus, I posting both here in case someone has seen something like this.

Here’s what I can tell you. What you call the back side, the bird-like creature made of chip inlay has features of a peyote bird or water bird and also an eagle kachina.

Sterling Silver Eagle Dancer Kachina Pendant by Bennie Ration, Navajo

The front side – the nose or beak is certainly an interesting feature of the kachina.

I wouldn’t venture a guess on its value because of the photo quality and not knowing if it is sterling silver, real turquoise etc. The main value is to you because of its provenance – the memories, the story with the piece.