4518 1 PRE-CONTACT COPPER NATIVE AMERICAN NECKLACE

Category Firearms & Military
Auction Currency USD
Start Price 600.00 USD
Estimated at 1,200.00 - 2,000.00 USD

& 13 TRADE BEAD NECKLACES FROM THE 17TH & 18TH CENTURIES. 1) PRE CONTACT. This extraordinary lot consists of the excavated remains of a pre contact beaded necklace found many years ago in the Great Lakes region. The necklace consists of well over 100 copper beads mostly of semi spherical form. The beads range in size from approx. 1/8" to nearly 1" in diameter. The beads were strung on a vegetable fiber resembling hemp and the remains of this fiber are with the beads. An enclosed tag on yellowed paper reads “INDIAN CHIEFS NECKLACE FOUND IN WISCONSIN PURE COPPER UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STATED THE HEMP USED TO STRING THE NECKLACE COMES FROM A PLANT NO LONGER IN EXISTENCE SMITHSONIAN- 600-900 YRS OLD.” The beads are arranged in a padded custom display case in a manner reminiscent of a necklace. CONDITION: the beads show heavy oxidation but remain quite solid. The patina ranges from bright green to a dark brown.
2) 17TH & 18TH CENTURY. 13 Strands of Native American trade beads mostly of glass and ranging in size from small seed beads to much larger “Russian blue” beads. Most of the colors range from cobalt blue to light blue, but there are many black, white & brick colored beads in the collection. One strand appears to made of tiny shells with a drilled bone central disc. All of the beads are strung on various lengths of strings or wire. CONDITION: it is likely all of the beads are excavated and some show patinas or encrustations developed over years in the soil. (02-18994/BF). $1,200-2,000.