Manuel Denet Chavarria – Old Style Hopi Necklace

Manny has made award-winning traditional style katsina carvings for decades. Recently he began creating jewelry in an old Hopi style. This dramatic necklace has chips of Cerrillos turquoise attached to cottonwood slabs using glue made of pine pitch and bear grease. Manny told me this glue is an ancient Hopi recipe. Everything on this necklace is constructed by hand. It is hung on hand-braided cotton string – once again in an old Hopi fashion. The length of the necklace is 17 3/4″ from the ends of the heishi. From the ends of the cotton strands it is 27″. More formal metal clasps could easily be added to this necklace. It is fascinating to see Manny venture into the world of high quality jewelry.