Up for your consideration is this vintage Native American Zunu handmade bolo with matching inlaid tips. Inlaid with turquoise, coral, black jet & Mother of Pearl. This is an exceptional bolo and I have been searching for months trying to determine the name of the artist who made it, but to no avail. I don't even know what to call the design. I though I once heard of a similar design called the kissing indians design. I can see why. Yet if you look at it again, it appears to be a rain bird or phoenix. The bolo is from a private collection, which contained the works of a number of highly regarded Native American artists.
The main bolo piece measures 2-7/8 inch tall by 3 inch wide. The matching inlaid tips measure 1-3/8 inch by 1-3/8 inch wide. The silver bolo tie tips are 2 inches long not counting the inlaid pieces. The silver tips plus the inlaid pieces make a total length of 3-1/2 inches. The leather bolo tie is a bit worn but still in good shape. Otherwise, excellent condition. The silver parts could use polishing.
This piece was purchased by a private collector in the 1950's.
The back of this bolo has the crimped silver wires for keepers of the leather tie, so it could have been made prior to 1957, when the Bennett clasp first began being used . The bolo slide on the backs on Native American bolos can aid in determining the age of a vintage bolo. Bolos were not made much before the 1930's. During that time, the backs of bolos were made with coin silver wires, not sterling. 1941 was the year sterling came into play. Bolos marked with a Bennett Pat Pend C31 slide were made between 1957 until some time in 1967. Slides marked with a Bennett Pat Pend slide were made from 1967 - 1983. Sometime in 1983 saw the elimination of the stamped Bennett slide.