Todays yard sale find, tests as silver and is just pretty work with claw, Indian, Bear & stone. Any idea who did it? Its 3 inches by 2 1/2 inches and weighs almost 100 grams.
This site shows it as unidentified. It's very pretty - I love the brown stone on the right shaped like a claw. http://www.art-amerindien.com/signature_indian_native_marks_tz.htm#w
The "stone" is either a real bear claw or a good fake,bear claws are also illegal to sell in a number of states.
Thanks all, The claw appears to be a real claw (has a groove along the underside and is fibrous ), whether from a bear or not I couldn't say ( seems a bit small for a bear ) Tie.dye.cat I also saw that site that showed it as unidentified but there has to be something on this as its very well made.
The "cast" bear has been on a number of items,though most pieces are not linked to a particular artist. There is a belt buckle on alltribes.com with the same bear.
Thanks Hollyblue, I saw those items on alltribes and am still trying to find a maker but haven't found anyone to contact that can give an answer! Someone must know.
Just for information I have checked several south west jewelry sites and as of now most are leaning toward the mark possible being "Mary Begay". I will update as new info comes in. Turns out the mark appears to be an M over the rays.