Featured SAID I'D DIG & I DID!!! NECKLACE & RING....NA or TOURIST??

I was always told these were "Rainmakers", but not sure as to that!! The large piece is a pin that is adjusted to be worn also on the necklace. It is 6" from the white "feather" to the farthest foot. The ring is 2-1/4 in length.....if my mind serves me correctly Mom & Dad got them for me on one of their trips west, but my mind is sometimes up for debate nowadays!!!!!!!!!!! I still love them but no longer wear them, as you can see they haven't been polished in quite a while!! There are marks on the back of both ring and necklace if anyone can make head nor tails out of them!!! I would LOVE to know more about them actually!!!! As ALWAYS I SO MUCH appreciate ANY and ALL input...GOOD or BAD!!!!! Sue

 

They look like Zuni rainbow dancers.
https://www.google.com/search?clien...bile-gws-serp..10.2.332...30i10k1.KVKcz5jUaZk

https://www.google.com/search?q=zuni+rainbow+dancer&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=isvn&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&fir=j_FjmFcfot4YqM%3A%2CM14XjPaqL0D8OM%2C_%3B3kCnZtHgJnOPtM%3A%2C_LA7stTPQ4hRRM%2C_%3BZW__rkYpdwaq7M%3A%2CKBNoPSjt_a2UbM%2C_%3B2ncazkri_BR3TM%3A%2CFgIFdnWZlpLxfM%2C_%3BMZqNWcGCQhA-UM%3A%2CTWeNYeKwOT4aiM%2C_%3B9njjpWSCaQ8ZUM%3A%2ClQQKcMS8EJVKXM%2C_%3Bc3LHdzlo8CZ8SM%3A%2COV7KLmUf4u91gM%2C_%3B45Q2eFg13llSgM%3A%2C3xBKNmQajrh-hM%2C_%3B4NLXea_EnVcEOM%3A%2C7uYZTKB_Re8TOM%2C_%3BJkTifkA5yIFNgM%3A%2CFgIFdnWZlpLxfM%2C_&usg=__61UGnVtRRO9NUCcRADehZ7lkxw8=&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjT5YCy08rTAhVh6oMKHcvPAegQsAQIJg&biw=1024&bih=649

A little info on Rainbow dance.
http://www.southwestcrossroads.org/record.php?num=20

Can't make out a maker's name or symbol on the backs.

--- Susan

 

I'm not going to be of much help, I'm afraid. But I can tell you that the images are usually referred to as the "Rainbow Man," and they are Zuni inlay.

The silver bead necklace, however, is Navajo style. The necklace, therefore, may be a marriage. The back of the Rainbow Man, and the way it's attached, seem a little odd. I doubt if they started out meant to be together, but maybe you already knew that.

No help at all on the marks, which also may not be original to the pieces. They look rather too random to be signatures or hallmarks.

 

only to add that they both look very well made....otherwise i concur with all above..

 

Would the beads on the Navajo syle necklace be called: cone end beads with shepherd's hook clasp, elongated beads called melon beads (aka melon seed beads), and the rest Navajo stamped beads?

--- Susan

 

The cones and large round beads appear to be commercial made,photo not clear enough for small and "melon" beads.

 

@Taupou, I believe, the Rainbow Man was meant to be a pin first and foremost! Mom had so many necklaces at the time in the 50's (I think 50's) she asked if I'd rather it be a necklace which I must have said yes to! The gray pieces are just like a hard rubber on either side to keep it balanced on the necklace, which I also had shortened by 3"....kept the 6 or 8 beads as well.....so Mom may very well have bought the necklace separately........THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!!!!!

And will put up a better image of clasp and cones & large round beads......

 

Susan, THANKS!!!! I love the name Rainbow Dancers better than Rainmakers....even tho results should be similar!!!! SO many images to drool over, even though am not wearing them now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GREAT link on Southwestcrossroads.org!!!!! Thanks again!!!!!

 

These are close ups and I hope clearer....and there was dried glue on one end of the pin that i cleaned off and took off of the necklace.....hope you can understand what I'm trying to show!!

 

The beads are handmade and not bench made the the earlier photos looked like.

 

Agree.
Aquitaine, I love them. I have two Zuni Rainbow Men, so I put one, a brooch, up for sale now. The other, a brooch/pendant, definitely stays here.
Just wonder what would have been on the necklace originally. Is there anything (Navajo?) in your collection that comes to mind?

The Rainbow Man can refer to the dancers, but also to the rainbow itself. Rainbows are often depicted as rainbow spirits and look human in Native American symbolism. That is why the Zuni Rainbow Man is not only colourful, but often curved as well:

 

it could have held a naja, or likely nothing at all.....

 

AJ (hoping you don't mind the abbreviation!), other than 2 small silver Kachinas (maybe 4".....a third one took it's final trip with Mom), and a large safety pin (tourist I believe), this is all I have. Mom was the real collector, not me. I think they got me this when I was somewhere in my teens.....if I was ever that young!!! Now, I REALLY like those Kachinas even tho not as decorative, as I remember....will have to 'dig them up'!!!!

 

NICE, VERY nice.....and I honestly don't remember.....Mom took care of that!!!!

 

Thanks Holly!!!

 

I was thinking of the tube thing in the middle. It looks like the necklace was made like that and it is not for a naja:

 

I was wondering about that too...... "naja"??????

 

Naja is that circular decoration on the necklace Komo posted. It is originally a Moorish (even earlier) horse ornament, came to the Southwest with the Spanish, and is often used as a centrepiece for squash blossom necklaces:

From Navajo Silver by Arthur Woodward.