A necklace constructed from native tanned hide thongs, leather brackets and decorated with an assortment of elaborate glass European trade beads.

Choker necklaces are often decorated with some of the most expensive and unusual beads available. The form became particularly popular among Ute and Jicarilla Apache Indians in the third-quarter of the 19th century, featuring prominently in early portraits. In fact, there is a photo of a Jicarilla Apache boy taken in 1871, for example, shows and almost identical example to the one here.

One can surmise that the beads - more importantly their rarity, size and quantity - became subtle statements of wealth and worldliness. This choker here is decorated elegantly with over five different types of trade beads which would have been painstakingly sourced by the Ute or Apache through trading networks along the Rocky Mountains.

Ex Erich Erdoes, NM

21” long

#50510