Russian Blue Haida Trade Bead Necklace c.1965 by Pat McGuire Frog Silver Pendant For Sale -

Russian Blue Haida Trade Bead Necklace c.1965 by Pat McGuire Frog Silver Pendant

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Russian Blue Haida Trade Bead Necklace c.1965 by Pat McGuire Frog Silver Pendant:
$1800.00

This is a rare Northwest Coast Native American trade bead necklace with antique blue glass beads and a hand-engraved sterling silver pendant by Haida artist Pat McGuire. It is from circa 1965 and is 28 1/2" long. This is very rare for two reasons. First, Pat McGuire was one of the most promising young Haida artists working in the 1960s. This was the peak of the "Haida Renaissance", with the likes of Bill Reid and Robert Davidson promoting Northwest Native Art to the public, and Pat McGuire was eager and talented during this period. Totem pole carving, silver engraving, acrylic painting, silkscreen prints...Pat McGuire did it all and found a place in the art markets of Vancouver and Victoria. Sadly, he died prematurely in 1970, and his works have been in-demand ever since. Second, this necklace is composed of 66 antique blue glass trade beads. Trade beads are rare to begin with, and the blue ones - popularly known as Russian Blues - have always been the most sought after.These trade beads are representative of the glass beads traded between Euro-American fur traders and Native Americans throughout much of northern North America. Glass beads - produced primarily in Italy, Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic), and China - were a highly-valued commodity for trade in Native North America. For many Indian peoples, the ownership and display of beads was a mark of status, making them a popular trade good across the continent. However, in northern North America, blue beads were particularly sought after, largely as a consequence of the difficulty in producing blue beads from naturally-available resources. Without indigo or turquoise in the Pacific Northwest, Native Americans desirous of blue beads, prior to the introduction of glass beads, were restricted to the use of Monterey shells traded north from the California Coast or the rare availability of blue beads from the far-flung reaches of native trade networks. Euro-American fur traders reveled in the high prices obtained by their stocks of relatively inexpensive, mass-produced jewelry. Traders, in turn, favored the glass beads for their own trading enterprises. Compared to many other trading commodities, beads were fairly difficult to break, weren’t ruined by water or prolonged exposure to moisture, were compact and lightweight, and were eagerly traded throughout the region. At times, beads could even be used to broker passage through hostile territories or to settle conflicts by providing compensation to injured or insulted parties.Pat McGuire was a descendant of the great Haida artist, Charles Gladstone. He began drawing and painting at a very young age and learned a great deal about Haida art and culture through his uncle, Joe Tulip. He was attracted to argillite in his youth and is perhaps best known for his work in this medium, although he was also a gifted painter and jeweler. Pat’s carving style was distinctive, with clean and sweeping lines. He was also one of the few modern Northwest Coast native artists to produce watercolour paintings on a regular basis. He moved to Vancouver in his twenties and established an unofficial “school” of argillite carving, and he worked with many artists including Pat Dixon, Denny Dixon, Ron Russ, and Doug Wilson. His primary crests were Eagle and Killerwhale. He died in 1970.

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