Necklace of Large Silver Beads Fit Together Internally

Large silver beads that fit together internally make this necklace an exercise in pure form, the join engineered into the beads themselves so the chain reads as a continuous run of polished silver. There is no stone and no applied ornament; the beadwork is the design.

Bead-making was a basic hand technique in Spratling's workshop, where smiths formed small balls by melting cut wire rings (Morrill, p. 36); scaled up into large fitted beads, the same logic produces a necklace of considerable presence. The piece dates to the Third Design Period (1951-1967).