Zuni Frog KH 925 (?)

[Aguest]

I have gone nowhere with this frog. Is there a Zuni artist who uses the "KH 925" stamp? There is a British artist who has a Navajo line of jewelry and his name is "Kit Heath" and he does use the stamp "KH 925", however I cannot find this unusual pendant anywhere in his records.

Is it possible that I bought a piece that has been mis-represented or perhaps is a forgery altogether?

[Aguest]

Is it possible that this is "Kevin Haloo" who is a Zuni Fetish Carver?

[ValkyrieVixen]

It may not even be NA, the majority of NA jewelry uses the Sterling stamp instead of 925.

[Aguest]

I found a similar pendant at auction, it was a carved salamander with the same hallmark .. >< .. I believe these pendants were carved from Chinese Turquoise soon after the discovery of large amounts of turquoise at the China Mountain deposit. At first there were large chunks, but over the years the material came lesser and lesser. Nowadays, since so many people rushed in to individually mine the turquoise, the authority has closed the mine.

I assume this material was imported to the Zuni fetish carvers in America, and I think this was carved and a pendant was custom-made to fit the carving just right, by an American Zuni Fetish carver. I think I see a "KH" on this piece and the other one I found in my research.