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Geronimo's Necklace

Currency:USD Category:American Indian Art / Art - Jewelry Start Price:2,000.00 USD Estimated At:20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
Geronimo's Necklace
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Necklace comprised of large beads, metal beads, turtle bone, fetishes and leather, in the traditional Apache style. Similar necklaces can be seen in period photographs of Apache warriors and leaders. Condition: Relic condition. Many beads missing, leather cracking.

Included in the lot are photocopies of newspaper articles and other ephemera relating to the necklace and its former owner. The necklace is shown in a photograph from the “San Antonio Express” magazine section of January 18, 1953. It is captioned “The necklace Geronimo wore when captured is examined by Mrs. H. A. Williams and Mrs. Homer B. Jones. Their father was one of three soldiers who located Apache’s camp.” The article also says, "It's not very pretty, the necklace of the Apache chief, but it points up the harshness of the days of the frontier."

The necklace was collected by Michael Keplinger, a teenage boy back in 1873. He was among the soldiers who captured Geronimo in the New Mexico mountains. Until recently, the necklace remained in the Keplinger's family along with the story of the acquisition of the necklace on the day that Geronimo was captured.

Lot includes a photocopy of a 1988 letter from Mrs. Anson Hoover, of Del Rio, Texas, granddaughter of Michael Keplinger. Her letter states, “I have no family to leave the necklace to, so I would like to sell it.”