A super neat necklace circa 1940's from the Santo Domingo pueblo, New Mexico... Created essentially to keep Native artists working throughout the WWII era this Santo Domingo thunderbird motif necklace has become one of the more unique and sought-after jewlery formats from that era. Supplies for jewelry were in very short supply throughout the Untied States during the war and things were no different for the Native peoples of the great Southwest. The resourceful craftsmen of the Santo Domingo pueblo kept thier jewelry making tradition alive by incorporating non-traditional materials such as resin, plastics, auto parts and more into thier jewelry designs. This Thunderbird necklace was hand worked by Santo Domingo artists using the casing of a car battery {the black base}, a bake-lite type material {red} then accented with natural turquoise and bone. The Santo Domingo people of the time never really thought the jewelry would amount to much as it was very non-traditional so little of it was created. But... the jewelry has stood the test of time and has remained a favorite of collectors of Southwerstern jewelry. Not many of these non-traditional material necklaces have survived from the Santo Domingos which makes them even more valuable. This Thunderbird necklace has been in the same family collection since it was acquired new in the late 1940's after a soldiers return home from the war. It has only just recently been made available for purchase. The center thunderbird measures 2 inches long and the entire necklace is set to fit a 30 inch neckline. This unusual Santo Domingo necklace is in great shape and is fully functional as jewlery. The necklace is available for purchase at $449.00