Gold and Ebony "Needles" Necklace

A fan of graduated needles — each slender spike wrapped at intervals with 18-karat gold banding, the dark organic shaft revealed between — radiates from a strand of polished gold beads in a display of studied material contrast. The silhouette is spare, almost architectural: the longest element at center, the row stepping shorter toward each shoulder, producing a clean, downward sweep of alternating deep and bright.

Material pairing was central to Spratling's gold work from his Taxco taller, and the needle necklace illustrates the range of that commitment. The same form was executed in silver with obsidian, in gold with ivory, and in further combinations, each version setting the reflective warmth of the metal against a distinct organic counterpart. Morrill has observed Spratling's affinity for this kind of material contrast — integration as a formal principle rather than an ornamental one — and Stromberg situates the Taxco school's embrace of stone, wood, shell, and other materials alongside metal as one of its defining technical and aesthetic achievements.

The clasp bears the WS workshop mark alongside the 18K assay, consistent with the circa 1960 gold-period production.