Vintage hand carved and dyed swirl bovine bone beaded, single strand necklace. This necklace has beautiful handmade beads with gorgeous deep relief hand carving caving. The large, round carved beads are each separated by small, smooth beads. The beads were hand dyed in beautiful shades or orange, coral, pink, and red...it is ombre in nature so each part of the strand has different coloring and saturation...making it colorful, dimensional, and fun! It is long enough that you can put it on without using the clasp, however it opens and closes with a metal screwing mystery clasp.

The earliest jewelry was believed to have been made from naturally available materials like animal teeth, bone, various kinds of shells, carved wood and stone. What started out as a functional item was later on adapted as a decorative ornament and religious symbol. Native Americans used the bones of the animals they killed to make jewelry because they believed it was wasteful to discard any part of the animal. They also believed that the souls of the animals lived on. So the wearer of the jewelry would have traits of that animal while wearing the beads. The bone beads were dyed by natural means, creating dark beads and light beads for contrast.

Condition: Excellent vintage condition with no cracks or chips on the hand carved beads. The closer opens and closes smoothly. Comes from a smoke free home.

Measurements:

total length - 27.5" long , carved beads are appox .25" in diameter