This One-of-a-Kind necklace is approx. 26” long.

The antique silver repousse pendant is from Rajasthan India and has a rich patina from age and wear. Repousse is a method of embossing a sheet of metal by punching and hammering the piece on alternating sides to create volume. The deity shown here is Shiva, and this depiction of him as Nataraja, or “lord of the dance”, is a very popular one.

This was a fun necklace to work on. Around the pendant I alternated beautiful hand carved bone trade beads from Nigeria and ostrich shel. I then added hand cut onyx beads and antique silver amulets from Afghanistan. The second row has antique silver amulets from Rajasthan India, Tibetan hand carved bone mala prayer beads, and antique Tuareg silver bicones from Mali, Africa. The Tuareg people are a nomadic tribe and descendants of the Berbers. They were known as the Desert Noblemen and traveled around the Sahara Desert region. The beads date from the early to mid 1900s. These are beautiful old beads with lovely patinas and signs of usage. They must have great stories to tell of distant travels and lives. When you wear this necklace it is fun to look down at all the antique components and wonder who wore them before you, where they were from, what clothing they wore, and … - well it could go on and on for a long time.. I also used sterling silver beads and findings throughout the design.

Hand crafted in the USA using imported materials.