Vintage Handmade Southwestern Hair Comb Amber Plastic Hand Stamped Silver Tone Feather Motif Turquoise Coral Color Sawtooth Bezel Hair Jewelry

This vintage handmade Southwestern hair comb has the wonderful irregularities of individually fabricated work. A hand-worked silver-tone metal plaque is mounted across the translucent amber plastic comb and decorated with two individually stamped feather or leaf motifs. The stampwork shows subtle differences from one motif to the other rather than machine-perfect repetition. Two contrasting turquoise-blue and coral-red cabochons are individually mounted in traditional sawtooth bezels, with slight variations in their placement and alignment further revealing the hand-built character of the ornament.

The construction is especially appealing when viewed closely: individually formed sawtooth settings, hand-stamped decoration, asymmetrical stone placement and a separately fabricated metal plaque attached to the older plastic comb. Together with the turquoise-and-coral color combination and feather/leaf stampwork, these details are strongly associated with traditional Southwestern silverwork. The piece is completely unmarked, however, so no specific artist, tribal affiliation or Native American origin is being attributed.

Because the applied metal plaque is quite thin and the older plastic comb is delicate, the metal has intentionally not been acid tested and is conservatively described as silver tone rather than sterling silver. Likewise, the sawtooth bezel set turquoise-color and coral-color cabochons have not been identified as natural stones, and the translucent amber plastic has not been attributed to celluloid, Bakelite or another specific early plastic. Age-related surface wear and oxidation/patina are visible around portions of the handmade metalwork. Please review the photographs closely as condition is subjective and the photos form part of the description.