Help with Makers Mark Native American Gold Orca, Custom Gold Virgo Angel

Hi there everyone

I inherited these two pieces from my grandmother who ran a second hand store in Ketchikan Alaska. I see there are makers marks but i have no idea what they are but im fairly sure they're gold. Any help would be great. Thank you

 

You will probably get a better response with in-line full sized pictures as opposed to the little clickies. @komokwa @Taupou

 

ahh... thank you im so new to this i have basically no idea how to do anything haha. thanks for the tip (and maybe posting them larger yourself cause they look huge now ) i appreciate you!!!!!

 

Welcome!
You should always use descriptive words in your thread title, too. The best people for helping with these type of items would perk up and pay attention ASAP!

 

good point

maybe,

native alaskan gold orca pendant and custom virgo angel pendant makers mark help....

i feel like that is quit the mouthful hehe. since im so clueless to the artist and the metal and everything i wasnt sure how to title it other then help please, hahaha

 

The Killer Whale is a casting, & I'm sorry but I don't recognize the markings.
It's nice though !!
I would suspect 14K...but it needs to be tested 2 B sure....

 

thank you
im nervous to get it tested but to calm my nervous, does it damage the piece at all?

 

Welcome!

 

Hi, and welcome.
Absolutely gorgeous killer whale!!!
Have it tested by a jeweler or someone else who knows what they are doing.
If you have it acid tested, make sure the acid is never applied to the jewelry. Most test kits come with a touchstone, rub the back of the bail (or another part you don't see when wearing it) on the touchstone and put a drop of acid on the rub mark on the stone. The directions are given with the kit.

 

When researching the mark on the killer whale, it might be worthwhile looking at Northwest Coast (Haida?) woodcarvers. Haida, etc. jewelry is usually made by artists who also make wooden sculptures. To them it is all carving, whatever the material.

 

It does look Haida...but coming from Alaska....may be Kaigani Haida ...

The Kaigani Haida (Alaskan Haida) people inhabit the southern half of Prince of Wales Island, located in the southernmost part of the Panhandle....

 

I grew up in Alaska, in Southeast so I definitely think Haida is an answer

Thank you I'll do some more research in that direction

 

The little whale is cute; reminds me in particular of the Russ family, who are indeed Haida. (I think what Komo is getting at is the fact that if an item looks Haida, and is from Alaska, it is impliedly Kaigani Haida, as amongst the Haida only the Kaigani live in Alaska; most Haida do not live in Alaska but in Haida Gwaii, the former Queen Charlotte Islands, in Canada.) But people do move; and not all Haida live in traditional Haida homelands.
But it could also be Tlingit, if from Alaska; the style is pretty general, and could be from a number of the NW artists; and also the mass-castings are often sold outside the home area of the artist who created the original from which they are cast. So one could well buy a cast piece in Alaska, though the specific artist was Canadian.
As I posted on ebay:
The second item, depicting an orca (killer whale) appears to be a cast item, in the style known as "Northwest Coast Native."

There are a large number of artists whose work is marketed in this way; most are not especially valuable because they are mass-marketed for the souvenir trade ($50 at most, more if gold). Some artists do produce one-of a kind art in this style, but this does not appear to be one of those originals, judging by the style and quality of the work. The specific mark could be either the artist or the manufacturer.

Northwest Coast Native art includes both Native American and Canadian First Nations artists, from the Northwest coast of the US and Canada, and Alaska; including tribes known as Kwakiutl, Nootka or Nuu-Chah-Nulth, Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Coast Salish among others.

 

I am with all_fakes.
I was a bit surprised that when I first suggested a possible Haida origin, the discussion started to center on an Alaskan Haida piece. It is definitely Pacific Northwest in style, and to me the style could be Haida rather than, for instance, Tlingit or Coastal Salish. But I never meant a specific Haida group, after all, not only artists travel, but second hand things travel with their owners, who might even have bought them somewhere far from their place of origin.
I met some Haida artists in Vancouver, Canada. Not Haida Gwaii, not Alaska. Carmen Goertzen (Haida) told me he lived in Australia for a while. And in the 70s I found some lovely Kwakiutl and Coastal Salish jewelry in a second hand silver shop in The Netherlands. I never thought for a minute that they were made by the Amsterdam branches of Kwakiutl and Coastal Salish.