Maine Antique Digest May 2015

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24-B Maine Antique Digest, May 2015
- FEATURE -
reporting the last few months when she
said, “The vintage jewelry market is
really good right now.” She thinks that
“Etsy and eBay have helped push the
market a little bit, so it’s become a little
bit of a cottage industry.”
Garth’s sells vintage and American
Indian jewelry regularly at its Eclectic
auctions. Its upcoming fine and vin-
tage jewelry sale will be held on July
23. Check out the website in the weeks
before to the auction for the online cat-
alog at ).
Carol Kee’s belt buckle of cartoon character
Yosemite Sam, inlaid with turquoise, jet, coral,
and mother-of-pearl, was another estimate
buster at $2625 (est. $200/400).
Navajo maker Loren Thomas
Begay’s 3" high x 2½" wide
turquoise four-bar open-
work cuff bracelet with a leaf
design surrounding the stone
and a silver stamped band
overlay brought $688 (est.
$300/600).
This 2¾" high x
1½" wide Ameri-
can Indian figural
silver ring of a Yei
dancer, inset with tur-
quoise, coral, jet, and
mother-of-pearl, was
from the third quarter of
the 20th century. The ring
is stamped “ML” and
“L” and sold for $210
(est. $75/150).
This 23" long mid-20th-century necklace
by Albert and Dolly Banteah, signed on
the swivel drop “AD Banteah,” has six
medallions with inlays depicting a blue jay,
hummingbird, heron, red-winged blackbird,
roadrunner, and a woodpecker. The swivel
pendant drop displays a cardinal on one side
and an eagle on the other. It sold for $1320
(est. $400/800).
This 22" long
American Indian silver
necklace with three
round inlaid peacock
medallions with turquoise,
coral, onyx, and abalone
by Raymond Quam (Zuni,
1938-1971) sold for $688
(est. $600/1200).
Andy Lee Kirk’s signed 14k gold bead and
turquoise 17" long heishi necklace with
a 1½" high x 1" wide married metal
pendant has a teardrop Bat-
tle Mountain turquoise
stone and gold hand-
tooled leaves and
clasp. It sold
for $2875 (est.
$2000/4000).
This 14k gold 1" high x 2½" wide cuff
bracelet with a circumference of 6½" was
made by a member of the circle of Andy
Lee Kirk (Navajo, 1947-2001). Signed “Ira
H.” and marked “14k,” the hand-ham-
mered cuff has four individually inset tur-
quoise stones and an accent inset with bone,
jet, coral, and turquoise and a single gold
flower, and realized $2000 (est. $1800/2500).
This signed Andy Lee Kirk 1¼" high
x 2½" wide 14k or 18k solid gold cuff
bracelet with a row of turquoise inset
between two smaller rows of bone and
coral realized $2750 (est. $2000/4000).
This 18" long Navajo squash blos-
som necklace by Loren Tho-
mas Begay has silver beads
with eight blossoms and a
3" diameter drop set with
turquoise. It sold for
$688 (est. $400/800).
Jeffers was surprised that some of
the pieces by Andy Lee Kirk did not
sell. Among them was this signed
woman’s ring in sterling silver with
a triangular Battle Mountain tur-
quoise center stone bordered by
hand-tooled feathers. The 1 1/8"
high x 1" wide ring was estimated at
$600/900.
This 14k gold signed Andy Lee Kirk
cuff bracelet with an openwork
sterling silver concentric rope cen-
ter medallion vertically flanked by
hand-tooled feathers and set with
a Battle Mountain turquoise center
stone did not find a buyer at the sale.
It had an estimate of $800/1200.
This 1½" high x 2 3/8" wide signed
sterling silver Andy Lee Kirk bracelet
in an openwork design with a large cen-
ter stone of Battle Mountain turquoise
with hand-tooled feather detail was still
available after the Garth’s sale. It was
estimated at $800/1200.
This signed Andy Lee Kirk ster-
ling silver, Battle Mountain tur-
quoise, jet, coral, and malachite
woman’s ring measures 1" high
x ¾" wide. With an estimate of
$400/600, it did not sell.