HERBERT CELLICION Zuni S Silver Rainbow Man Squash Set Start Price USD 1,499.95 Current Price USD 1,499.95 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, June 25, 2008 End Time Saturday, July 05, 2008 Location Topeka, Kansas See more about 'HERBERT CELLICION Zuni S Silver Rainbow Man Squash Set' Description One of the most important an who colorful of all the intricate Zuni figures, the the Rainbow Man warrior. He's a protective figure who incorporates lightning, thunder, and rain into his spirit to enable him to have an arsenal of fearsome weapons. In order to avoid 'capture,' the Rainbows that create the Rainbow Men were hidden deep inside the sacred Zuni Mountain. Here's an a bief excerpt of its meaning from the Manataka Indian Council's explanation of the meaning the Rainbow Man Warrior: "...the Creator chose Manataka (the Place of Peace) to display this beautiful phenomena of nature in a spectacular and unique way. The rainbows of Manataka were tended by the Rainbow Woman who kept a watchful eye on the peace of the valley.  She kept the secrets of the Crystal Cave and presided over the Great Peace Council for thousands of years. The Rainbow Woman and the beautiful rainbows of Manataka disappeared to live deep within the sacred mountain when our Circle was broken by invasion and destruction by a people who did not understand the beauty and grace of our sacred places." This impressive 28" inlaid squash style necklace and earrings set, however, isn't fearsome at all though he may serve as a protective spirit for you just as the Navajo bear symbol is also a protective spirit. In fact, it's a marvelous example of the art that the very best Zuni artists like Herbert and Esther Cellecion can create. The necklace features ten 3 and 1/16th" by ¾" miniature inlaid Rainbow Men complete with the pomegranite inspired sterling silver blossoms carefully fastened to a double strand of eagle beads that narrow above the blossoms into a single strand with the same 5/16ths" in diameter beads. Each of these smaller Rainbow Men have an incredible thirty hand cut and hand set natural stone micro inlays of robin's egg blue clear heart Sleeping Beauty turquoise, genuine Mediterranean red coral, Acoma black jet, and white mother of pearl. The oversized naja measures 3½" by 3 and 3 and 1/8th" and features two large mirrored Rainbow Men each with an amazing forty-seven very small hand cut and set micro inlays. They measure 2 and 7/8ths" by 1 and 3./8ths." At the top of the naja between the feet of the Rainbow Men is a 15/16ths" by 7/8ths" Zuni pueblo dwelling inlay design with twelve micro inlays. Suspended beneath inside a hammered sterling silver diamond wire miniature naja is the Great Spirit, the Zuni Sun God who symbols optimism and hope for abundant sunshine that will produce abundant crops. Sun Face measures ¾" in diameter and features nine micro inlays. An arced diamond wire overlay crowns the naja with twisted rope wire overlays on both sides of the pueblo dwelling inlay channel. A series of sterling sivler raindrop beads accent most of the Rainbow Mens' bodies along with sterling silver coiled sun overlays hanging from their stairstepped mountain design headdresses. The matching post back earrings for pierced ears feature Rainbow Men suspended from miniature inlaid Sun Faces that are slightly smaller than those in the earrings measuring1 and 11/16ths" by 13/16ths" but are remarkably no different in design than their larger blossom counterparts. At 5/16ths" in diameter, the Sun Faces are smaller replicas of the larger Sun Face in the naja and contain the same number of tiny, hand cut inlays. Their total length is 2 and 5/8ths." The squash necklace is multicultural, evolutionary creation whose history spans spans many centuries. The traditional Zuni and Navajo cluster squash necklace with traditional 'blossoms' has its design origins not the sands of a southwestern desert but in the deserts of the middle east, northern Africa, and the Middle Ages in Europe. For example, the basic naja is a crescent moon symbol which is a common symbol even today in the middle east. The Moors brought this and other designs with them when they invaded and occupied Spain for several centuries. The sterling silver blossoms which extrude from Rainbow Men's stairstepped headdresses along the necklace are adaptations of the pomegranate design that originated in as the emblem of Granada, a city in Spain. When the Spanish Conquistador/Invader Coronado explored the American southwest in search of gold and converts, the crescent moon or naja design had found its way onto the martengales of Coronado's horses. So the squash necklace incorporates timeless designs than span more than 1,000 years and many different cultures. Both Navajo and Zuni are opportunistic artists (in the best sense of the word) and have easily adapted and adopted designs and symbols from other cultures for their art. You can find exemplars of the Cellecions' creation in many if not all Zuni jewelkry coleecting guides. Due to their labor intemsiveness. they can only make a few of these each year and no two are ever exactly alike. So treat yourself to a collector and museum quality necklace that's not only a knockout to wear but one that will likely appreciate in value in the future. Herbert and Esther Cellecion's hallmark and Zuni stamp are on the back of the naja. Payment is expected no later than ten days after your purchase. Questions: Questions about this item only, please, from serious buyers only and NO questions that are answered in the product description. Most of the questions I receive have nothing to do with the item or are answered in the product description. I don't do free appraisals, free research, put members in touch with artists, or take custom orders so please don't email me about these issues, out of idle curiosity, or questions not pertaining to the item. 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Save for a while if necessary to buy the best pieces you can possibly afford. Don’t just spend money, invest it in good quality items that have future investment potential. It's against federal law to misrepresent foreign made jewelry as Native American. Protect this investment and assure the Native American authenticity of your purchases by requiring a Certificate of Authenticity. Be wary of items with many bids -- especially when the bidding exceeds $200.00, and ebay hides the bidders‘ identities. The truth is that there isn’t enough traffic anymore in the Native American jewelry category to generate lots of bids on most items, and sellers you wouldn‘t expect routinely engage in shill bidding practices. Be skeptical of sellers who say they’ve signed some vague paper with an anonymous third party to accurately represent their items. Ebay has no such requirement. With Fixed Price listings like mine, shilling is impossible so you can have confidence the buyer is a legitimate buyer -- not me under a different ID or not any associates in a fraudulent shill bidding ring. Authenticity and Provenance: This is a new rather than a previously owned item, and a Certificate of Authenticity guaranteeing its Native American origin is included. The jewelry I sell isn’t stolen (ebay is a leading venue for stolen merchandise and, yes, some of what you see in the Native American jewelry category is stolen), and the artists and traders have been all paid so you needn’t worry about the police knocking on your door or any letters from attorneys. Everything but pawn sterling silver jewelry and stone necklaces are cleaned and polished with tarnish retardant polish before shipping so that it arrives looking sparkling clean and odor free. Buy Only Authentic Native American Jewelry: If you care whether the jewelry you buy is authentic Native American, please click on the View Seller's Other Items link in the box at the top of the page at right. A substantial percentage of the jewelry offered in the Native American category is actually made in China, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and elsewhere and then misrepresented as Navajo or Zuni. Two-thirds of all so-called Native American jewelry sold in this country is fake, and a lot of it is sold on ebay by sellers who should know better both in terms of the law, good ethics, and knowledge about the true origins of their products. Multiple Item Shipping: For your convenience and savings, multiple jewelry purchases purchased within a 10 day period can be shipped together Priority Mail -- just please let me know when you begin buying. Your new jewelry will be carefully packed by people who care whether your hand made jewelry art arrives in the same condition it was when shipped because it deserves to be properly protected. On international orders, some items can be combined for fixed rate shipping, and others can’t. Please email me if you a question about multiple item international shipping. U.S. Domestic Shipping and Insurance: Same day USPS Priority Mail shipping with 2-3 business day delivery and FREE delivery confirmation except weekends, holidays, unplanned events like doctors‘ appointments and illness, dangerous weather, and buying trips from a non-smoker on receipt of payment before 3 pm Central Time. I require Post Office internally trackable insurance on all shipments to protect you against Post Office loss or damage because delivery confirmation is NOT tracking. PayPal requires signature confirmation on all shipments of $250.00 or more which will be included when applicable at cost with the insurance. 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The Post Office no longer furnishes free shipping supplies for expedited international shipments so there will be a $1.50 charge for shipping materials. The U.S. Post Office won’t insure silver, gold, or platinum jewelry so I use a private insurance carrier for international shipments. Please email for shipping/insurance costs to your country. Payment Options: On domestic orders, I accept credit cards through PayPal (Visa, Mastercard, Discovercard, American Express) and also gratefully accept PayPal e-checks, money orders, and bank or cashiers' checks. International customers are asked to remit payment through PayPal. Sales tax: Only Kansas residents must pay Kansas sales tax. Feedback Policy: A transaction is considered complete when you receive your items and post feedback. I will then post feedback within a few days. Please be patient as I have many, many feedbacks to do and don’t use those one feedback fits all systems. 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