Silver and Obsidian Star Earrings

Earrings Spratling called silver and obsidian star set the black volcanic glass against silver in a star form, a pairing of a distinctly Mexican material with one of his favored geometric shapes. Obsidian carries pre-Columbian associations, the stone worked in Mexico since ancient times, which suits Spratling's habit of drawing on the region's deep past.

The maker's own name for the design fixes both its material and its form. Setting silver against a dark, light-absorbing stone is the kind of contrast Spratling built his jewelry around, the metal supplying structure and the obsidian supplying depth.

Obsidian-and-silver earrings of a named star design from the Third Period come to market only occasionally, and the maker's term anchors the identification.