"Neck Ring"

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A sterling silver necklace with large hanging pendant at center made by Art Smith; designed circa 1948 and made between 1946 and 1979. The necklace features a vertical pendant chain of ten (10) interlocking sterling silver rings with four (4) flat, oblong pieces of silver with rounded ends set horizontally through the vertical chain, with each piece decreasing in size from the top to the bottom. The circular necklace is composed of three pieces of sterling silver. The top or back piece, which would fit behind the neck, connects at each end with a nearly closed hook clasp to holes set into the front right and front left pieces, both of which extend to curved loops at the other end. The loops interlock with each other to close the necklace at the center, from which the vertical chain is extended.

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