Double Sided Navajo Hopi Pendant

Hi,
Helping a friend with this piece, she has had it for 20 years, thinks it came from Texas - double sided pendant, 2 3/8" diameter. No marks or signature on the pendant or chain. I've found lots on-line called The Man In The Maze, made by Hopi or Navajo, many are marked sterling. Is it possible to tell if this was made by either tribe?
Any information appreciated
thanks for looking

 

Nice that it is two-sided. The style is Hopi overlay, but as you said, it could be Navajo. Or even something else, difficult to tell without a maker's mark. Are you sure there is no mark hidden somewhere, maybe on a link?

 

the 1st pic is classic....but i've never seen the reverse..

 

Thank-you AJ I'll go over the chain again, I looked but could have missed something.

 

Can't tell from the photos if it is Hopi overlay,looks more like a cast tourist piece.

 

Possible, the edges of the overlay are not as sharp as in my Hopi pieces. Let's hope for a mark.

 

The Man in the Maze design itself is actually associated with the Papago and Pima tribes of southern Arizona (now known as Tohono O'odham and Akimel O'odham). But it is widely copied, by Native American and non-Native Americans, as well as by Mexican, Philippine, Chinese, and other silversmiths.

It might be possible to determine the artist by finding another piece that is signed that has the same style of little man (it tends to vary a lot, depending on the maker), or by the little footprint on the back.

But if not, there is nothing to indicate it is Native American-made, and it just has to be sold as a "Southwest" or "Man in the Maze design".

 

has anyone ever seen the ' foot ' maze before..?

 

Thank-you Taupou! I've been looking to see if I can find another piece with the 'footprint' mark but so far I haven't found one.

not me, but if I find one I will post it here.

 

The maze with the foot looks like an ancient European labyrinth, best known from the Minoan labyrinth in Crete, Greece:


In Europe the footprint would represent 'walking the labyrinth', a symbol for a spiritual journey, represented here in Chartres cathedral, France:


Here is a 15th century labyrinth wall painting from a church in Sibbo Finland:


The man in the maze in Papago and Pima, the O'odham nations, tradition represents I'itoi or Se:he, a trickster-like helper of the O'odham people who introduced arts and law, but also war. He retired deep in a cave. The maze is like a map to find him. He is also called Big Man or Elder Brother.

Man in the maze jewellery was first made by Tohono O'odham (Papago) silversmiths about a century ago. The Hopi and Navajo pieces date from much later.
The intriguing combination of these two labyrinth traditions in one necklace seems New Age to me.

 

Yes, indeed it does.....thanks for that education !!!!

 

Thank-you for the information AJ, very interesting!

 

HA HA!! I was so busy following the sketch of the labyrinth with my mouse carefully that I got dizzy and nearly fell out of my chair.............DUUUUUUH!!! BUT I stayed in the lines!!!!!

P.S....FASCINATING!!!!

 

Wow, Aquitaine, I never could draw inside the lines as a child. But outside, totally different story.