Long Caviar Necklace

Built from the heavy beaded links Spratling called "caviar," this long necklace gathers its weight toward a single large amethyst cabochon at the hook clasp. The amethyst-and-silver combination is one of the signatures of his first design period, the chunky cabochon-set work that defined the look collectors came to recognize as a Spratling.

The piece carries the design vocabulary of 1931-1946, when the workshop was establishing the forms that would identify the school: bold gauge, hand-built links, and semi-precious Mexican stones set as cabochons rather than faceted.

It is recorded in Penny C. Morrill's William Spratling and the Mexican Silver Renaissance: Maestros de Plata. Necklaces of this scale and date survive in limited numbers and reach the market only occasionally.