Apache Jan Loco Hammered Sterling Silver Disc Pendant [SOLD]

Using her own unique method, Apache artist Jan Loco first cut the desired shape of this sterling silver disc using only hand tools.  On the front face of the disc, she textured the surface by meticulously hand hammering it with a stone.  She indicated the title on the back as “Medicine.”  An adjustable thin leather string is looped through the central hole providing a means to wear the disc as a pendant.  The result is a piece of very collectible jewelry. 

The piece is stamped on the back .925  J. Loco “Medicine”.  Note that sterling silver, also known as 925 sterling silver, is a metal alloy used in jewelry. Traditionally, it is 92.5% silver (Ag), and 7.5% copper (Cu).

Jan Loco began making jewelry in 1988. She developed a unique method of creating jewelry without the use of any power tools.  Using only heavy-duty shears, she cut and fashioned her piece to the desired shape, after which she hammered it with a specially selected rock until she achieved the desired texture.  This is a laborious task, but she felt it honored her ancestry to use items of nature rather than power tools.

Jan Loco became interested in Apache symbolism and legend when, as a young adult, she discovered her Apache ancestry. Her work is inspired by the stories of her ancestors, incorporating designs reflecting the heavens, Apache legends, as well as plants and animals of the Apache homeland.  She did not learn of her Warm Springs Apache heritage from her adoptive parents until she was an adult. It was then that she learned she was the great granddaughter of Chief Loco, one of the last of the Apache chiefs, who had been imprisoned in Florida in 1886 by the U. S. government.

Jan Loco no longer makes jewelry.  She moved from New Mexico some years ago and her whereabouts are unknown.

Condition: original condition

Provenance: this Apache Jan Loco Hammered Sterling Silver Disc Pendant is from a private Albuquerque collection

Recommended Reading: Indian Jewelry of the American Southwest by Sarah Peabody and William Turnbaugh

Relative Links: jewelry, Apache, Jan Loco