Eleven Amethyst Necklace

Eleven round cabochon amethysts march across this silver necklace, each set apart from the next by three long cascabeles, so that color and dangling silver alternate in a steady, rhythmic measure. It joins the cabochon-amethyst designs that became one of Spratling's signatures, the timeless 1940s look Morrill recalls learning to identify as unmistakably his (Morrill, p. 12).

The piece belongs to the First Design Period, 1931 to 1946, and pairs the gemstone work with the cascabeles that recur throughout early Taxco jewelry. It is recorded in Goddard's Spratling Silver: A Field Guide.

Worked in 980 silver under the joined "WS" mark Spratling adapted from his horse brand (Morrill, p. 39), the necklace turns on confirmation of the stones, the early mark, and the integrity of all the cascabeles.