Hopi Tufa Cast Sterling Silver Pendant White Buffalo Turquoise

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Hopi Tufa Cast Sterling Silver Pendant White Buffalo Turquoise:
$150.00

This is a listing for a vintage Native American tufa cast sterling silver and howlite pendant. It is stamped sterling along with the artist\'s symbolic hallmark of a mountain. It\'s a substantial and beautifully cast piece that weighs 41 grams. The total length is 2 and 1/8th inches and the width is 1 and 3/16th inches. The bail is a thick heavy shepherd\'s hook style soldered onto the back of the pendant, so only contributes to the pendant\'s length by 2mm. The bail\'s opening is about 5 mm, so it canaccommodate a thick chain and being an open hook, it can slip over the stringing of any sized beaded necklace.
Howlite is often referred to as White Buffalo turquoise. I\'ve seen photos of white turquoise but understand that it is extremely rare, so am assuming this is Howlite. But truthfully, I can\'t tell the difference between Howlite and white turquoise. It\'s a beautiful stone with a creamy white shade and a very finely webbed dark chocolate colored matrix. It was cut into a perfect oval, placed on it\'s side, and given a prominent domed surface. The stone is hard and took a strong polish. The artist tightly wrapped it in a very thick serrated bezel and mounted it on the oval base of cast silver. The pendant was cast in two parts, one for the stone and one for the rectangular base. And the two parts were soldered onto the heavy bail. The workmanship is extremely well done, very solid, and would be almost impossible to damage. The stone, not including it\'s bezel, measures 7/8th inches by one half inch.
The base of the pendant is a thick rectangular piece of tufa cast sterling, with it\'s characteristic textured surface, front and back. The artist carved (into the tufa mold) it\'s entire surface with a beautiful composition of raised Hopi symbols done in four sections. One corner is a rain cloud, the other an open hand, the third is a spiral representing water and the fourth has two ears of corn.
This is a beautiful and spiritual piece and the neutral shade of the white stone with the warmth of the tufa cast silver will add an elegant touch to any outfit.Thank you for looking.