Tony Luala three strand multi stone fetish necklace

Description

Tony Luala three strand multi stone fetish necklace
Tony Luala necklace
There seems to be some controversy as to whether Tony Luala even existed. I have seen some blogs and web sites that suggest that this was only a name for a group of Navajo carvers who made the fetishes and then they were assembled in a shop in the west end of Gallup NM. However, Oscar T. Branson in his book Fetishes and Carvings of the Southwest  attributes a fetish necklace to Tony Luala and shows in detail some of his fetish carvings, which match the carvings in this necklace. It was/is not uncommon for native families and friends to form a co-op and work together, selling under one of the members names. Effie Calavaza and Tommy Singer are just two that come to mind.
Regardless of what is posted on the net I will go with Branson, who was an expert on Native American jewelry making and techniques, having published many books on the subject and lived through the period of development of the Indian jewelry market, as being correct.
This is a three strand necklace with one of the best selections of different animals that I have ever seen. Luala had a very distinctive style when it came to some of his fetish animals. He was one of the few to use mountain goats, turtles, and fish. All very detailed in their carving. In this necklace there are, numerous birds, bears, rabbits, mountain goats, frogs, fish, fox & turtles. The semi-precious stones cover pretty well every type of stone used in fetish carving, I'm not going to list them all, please see the pictures.
Strung on original 2 mm olive heishi beads the longest strand is approx. 28" then 25" and 22". The largest fetish is 35mm with the smallest 7mm. Sterling silver cones and hand made hook and eye closure it weighs a total of 48.6g.
Purchased from a private collection that included Leyka and Francis Deyuse necklaces this necklace looks like it has never been worn.
Three strands of fetishes
Pipestone eagle
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