Featured Very old tribal pendant?

Hi all, I had this looked at by a Native Specialist and appraised as:

"This pendant has silverwork more likely seen in the middle east, possibly Arabic or possibly further east in India. If it is East Indian it may be Amazonite. Either way I suspect value could run several hundred dollars, possibly up to $500. Insurance value."

Been searching for any examples/info with no results other than a helpful jewelry dealer from Tibet stated it is Not from his area and called it "a moth looking up".

Found out -"The moth animal guide represent three main ideals: mystery, darkness/light, and transformation. To some Native American tribes, moths were thought to be sacred and powerful creatures and there is even talk of moth cocoons being used as rattles in certain Californian Native tribes."​

Found out -"Amazonite is known as the “hope” stone and is named after the Amazon River of South America. There are no Amazonite deposits that exist in the Amazon region. It is found in many places in the world, but large deposits exist in Russia, Myanmar (Burma), India, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Brazil, and the United States (Colorado and Virginia)."

I still have no idea about the, what, where, when, and who. Any help even an educated guess may sent me on the right path. Thank you!






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Research sites would be appreciated. Thank again.

 

We ARE the research site !

Not to worry...we'll figure it out...
Is that red stone glass or coral.....
a close up would be nice...

 

How do you know it's very old ?

 

The stone is not Amazonite,it may be jade or one of the "fakes" like serpentine,etc.The metal work is cast not fabricated and could have been made at a variety of locations,it could be 30 years old or a 100 years old with no known history. It also looks to have a horned demon and maybe not a butterfly.

 

Perhaps Chinese. I notice it has holes drilled around the edges that may have originally had additional pendants. Maybe an older, more "tribal" version of something like this:

https://guide.alibaba.com/t-shop/fi...t-very-happy-jade-free-shipping_77725948.html

or this:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/260875820/old-silver-chinese-chatelaine-pendant?ref=related-7
or

http://rpbirt.com/2011/04/chinese-antique-silver-enamel-necklace-2-2.html

 

It is Himalayan, I'd say Tibet or Nepal.
The main stone could be bowenite, the secondary stone looks like coral. Bowenite is found a lot in Tibet, and often sold as jade by Chinese traders.
The holes around the edges of the butterfly are there to mimic 19th century jade clothing decorations, those were sewn on silk clothes. Ca 1900-1930 those were often mounted in silver and made into jewellery. That style is sometimes reproduced in recent times.
Your pendant is nice, but doesn't look very old to me, and I suspect these are still being made.

In Himalayan Vajrayana Buddhism the butterfly is a symbol of immortality through enlightenment. As a caterpillar it seems to die, but it goes through a meditative, introspective phase, the chrysalis, and comes from the dark of the cocoon to the daylight as a beautiful butterfly. An embodiment of the beauty of spiritual awakening in enlightenment.
The symbols around the edge look like Himalayan grass symbols, which are always elegant and scrolling. Grass is very resilient, and therefore also stands for immortality, overcoming the cycle of life.

A word of advice: Ditch the 'Native Specialist'. Native where from, and Specialist in what?
This silverwork can only been seen in the Middle East as import. That person has no right to appraise this as anything if they have no clue what it is.

 

Clearly, the images found on pinterest and rubylane indicate this is a common, perhaps mass produced item.

 

The scrolling around the edges seems to be different on each pendant. I think it is the old story, if there is a market, more people will (try to) make it.

 

WOW .. GREAT description AJ .. Thank You ... Joy.