Double Bamboo Necklace

Spratling called this necklace type "double bamboo," its elongated silver links carrying five silver frogs superimposed along their length.

The frogs are figural work in the workshop's flattened, stylized manner, where Morrill notes the pattern of the form was valued over literal representation (Morrill, p. 73). Set against the bamboo-like links, the repeated frog turns a chain into a small narrative of animal life.

Such named designs were part of Spratling's own design vocabulary, and the necklace is recorded both in Mexican Silver Jewelry: The American School 1930-1960 and in Goddard's Spratling Silver: A Field Guide.