Christina Anna Eustace

NATIVE AMERICAN
Cochiti-Zuni

This contemporary necklace by Christina Anna Eustace has both beauty and dragonflies, one of the insects that Carolyn favored. The raincloud pendant in the middle, made of silver and inlaid coral, is an example of the abstract vocabulary of symbolism that Native American jewelry is so rich in.

The dragonfly components in the necklace can be seen enlarged in a silver brooch that Carolyn also owned. The dragonfly perhaps exemplifies the quality of bravery, derived from the way these insects fly and hunt their prey. Carolyn faced the world in a similar manner, meeting the challenges of running her own business, with its many obstacles, through almost five decades of publishing, and in the way she lived during the last two years of her breast cancer treatment.

This final example of a dragonfly brooch is fabricated and set with coral, sugilite and turquoise, showing how an artist such as Eustace can create beautiful variation on a theme. This is one of perhaps a half dozen dragonfly jewelry in Carolyn’s collection.