Bold African Tribal Orange Coral Batik Bone Tassel Statement Necklace

Primitive styling and ethnic components combine with earth tone hues, unique textures, and a variety of shapes in this fantastic tassel necklace, breathing into it the life and soul of Africa. Ranging from a giant coral cylinder down to tiny coral seed beads, from squares of patinaed terra cotta to circles of bone and brass to long pipes of painted bone, this amazing necklace has an unlimited palette of materials, colors, shapes, and textures. Each one of these elements provides its own distinct features to the piece and while maintaining its individuality, it works together with the other components to bring harmony to the necklace as a whole. I often refer to this quality of my jewelry compositions as a harmony of contrasts.

The predominate elements in this original handcrafted artisan piece of jewelry are orange bamboo coral and batik cow bone from Kenya. There are ten strands of vivid orange coral seed beads on each side of the necklace and an awesome faceted one-of-a-kind barrel of coral in the tassel. In both the main necklace portion and the tassel are large bone beads from Kenya as well as unique, hand-painted bone hairpipe beads. The bone beads are hand carved from boiled, bleached cow bone, polished and stained a deep brown color, and then buffed smooth, making each bead completely unique. The larger beads are filled with wooden plugs that are drilled with holes in order to help maintain the shape. These batiked bone beads add such richness to the piece that I named it after their place of origin, Kenya.

I used antique silver throughout the necklace too add some depth and contrast. These beads are actually terra cotta that has been shaped, kiln-fired, heavily coated with pure silver, and then antiqued. With the exception of the antique bone rings at the ends of the tassel, the bone-colored beads throughout the piece are made from terra cotta clays as well. The square beads near the end of the tassels are copper-coated terra cotta to which a chemical patina is applied, giving them an ancient, weathered look.

Brass rings are used throughout the neckpiece, bringing all of the various elements and colors together, with the circle itself being a symbol of unity. I designed a copper spiral clasp to close this dramatic, one-of-a-kind jewelry composition.

Length: 24" plus 8" tassel

* I make every piece of jewelry myself with gemstones and natural materials I get from all over the world. Due to the nature and availability of the materials, each piece of jewelry will vary slightly from the original. Every piece will be equally beautiful and every piece is an original work of art.