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An extraordinary and extremely large Navajo silver figurative “insect” ring set with turquoise, red coral and Spondylus oyster shell by McKee Platero, 2024

IN THE 35-PLUS YEARS that we have been enthusiastically buying, selling and admiring McKee Platero’s fantastic Navajo jewelry, this is probably the single most outrageous piece that we have ever seen and that is saying quite

a lot. Everything about it is just completely over the top; the amazingly complex design, the almost shockingly incredible size and the instant in your face visual impact, the imaginative and technically brilliant fabrication. It’s quite simply one of the very finest and most dramatic and daring pieces ever made by one of the very finest Native American jewelry artists ever born; a true artistic tour de force that functions just as well as a piece of jewelry

as it does a precious metal sculpture so when you aren’t wearing it and admiring it that way, you can display it and continue admiring it from a different perspective. It’s hard to take one’s eyes off it, believe us. We’ve been in the Southwestern and Native arts business for over 40 years now and this ring is without a doubt one of the greatest things of any type that we have ever seen.

Interestingly, Platero made this piece in 2024 decades after his apprenticeship training with his two outstanding mentors and clan uncles, the distinguished Navajo silversmiths, Jack Adakai and Austin Wilson, had been finished and one can see distinct stylistic echoes and vestiges of the work of both of these great masters in this outstanding piece; a testament to the influence of their teachings on the young Platero.

McKee Platero and “Big Fly”

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McKee Platero has strong feelings about the importance of insects in the world as his quotation here clearly indicates and he has portrayed that  importance variously in his numerous insect-themed jewelry pieces over the years. In the traditional Navajo religion

of which McKee is a practitioner, "Big Fly" or "Do’Tsoh” is an important spirit being. He is also known as “Sacred Fly” or “Little Winds” and he is the guardian of the sacred Navajo sand paintings used in all Navajo healing and other ceremonies.

The Navajo also say “Do’Tsoh" is the first big fly that you see in the spring before all flies come back to pester. It’s unusually large

and you can easily see the glitter on its surface changing colors. They say that you shouldn’t kill the first big fly you see because it is the one thing that brings to you good fortune in the spring time. The good fortune always includes that you will have abundance of food.

This means your crops will be plenty. In that way we respect the Big Fly, Do’Tsoh and talk to it as you would a person.”

Over the years, McKee Platero has made several wonderful pieces depicting the Big Fly and his powerful role in Navajo religion and culture such as the silver cuff bracelet shown here below at center, the silver and golden-lipped mussel shell ring shown here at right

and the silver, turquoise and Spondylus or Spiny oyster shell ring shown here at left.

“Platero comes from a family of silversmiths, his grandfather

and his uncles were known for their heavy silver jewellery with deep and precise stampwork, and Platero continues this tradition.”

-The British Museum

And now, some brief remarks on the details of the ring’s unique construction. The ring’s silver shank is a very difficult to execute five-part split chisel design. On top of the silver shank there is a large, fabricated silver bezel platform which holds the various old style “foldover” type silver bezels holding all the various stones as well as the various and many applied silver decorative pieces, nine very finely-stamped round silver buttons, eight round applied polished silver “raindrops” and two large smoothly polished silver crescent shaped elements which form the details of the insect’s design.

Interestingly, although we are referring to this piece as being an “insect” ring, taken as a whole, the design presentation also has a strangely stylized, anthropomorphic almost human aspect and resemblance to it as well. Overall, it’s an astonishing artistic arrangement to contemplate. There are seven set stones and shell pieces in total, all very finely hand-cut and some very beautifully fashioned; there is one piece of spiderweb turquoise at the top, two round pieces of precious red Mediterannean red coral just below and then five large asymmetrically-shaped pieces of precious Spondylus or spiny oyster shell below in several shades of light orange, deep red-orange and creamy white.

The sheer size and scale of the piece is almost overwhelming. This is a BIG ring, almost the size of a small dessert plate, the ring’s face measuring a full 3 3/4” in length and 2” in width at its widest point and yet it sits very nicely and remarkably comfortably on the hand. The ring measures a size 8 1/2 on a professional graduated ring sizer and

it weighs a very substantial, yet surprisingly comfortable to wear 82 grams or 2 7/8 ounces. The ring is beautifully signed and dated in a very elaborately done rendition of McKee Platero’s signature on the back. As can been in the photos here, the signature includes his name and the date, “McKee L. Platero, 8/ 2024”, all beautifully inscribed in

a very fancy cursive script and some decorative artistic doodles and his customary hallmark of three dots or stars

in a row, in this case, three very finely inscribed stars. In our opinions, Platero was clearly aware that he had created an important piece here and he signed it accordingly with great care and supreme skill. The signature here is actually another miniature work of art applied onto the back of the major work.

“Wild Thing, you make my heart sing.”

-Song Lyric source and © The Troggs, 1965

The ring is basically brand spanking new, in completely pristine, virtually new original condition. It is only some eight months old and was originally purchased directly from McKee Platero in August of 2024 at his home/studio by a professional colleague of ours who is an old friend and former gallery dealer of Platero’s, who now functions as an unofficial private dealer of Platero’s jewelry, just after it was completed, and then purchased in turn by us from our colleague a few days later so we are essentially the ring’s original owners. It has basically, never really ever been worn, we have sat around the house with it on once or twice maybe for a half hour or so gazing at it in shock and awe. It has actually spent almost the entire fairly short time we have owned it proudly resting on a display stand in our living room as the masterpiece art object it is.

A few caveats to mention, this ring is a demanding mistress and careful attention must be paid as it needs to be the center of attention. Of course, you must be carful when scratching your nose. You cannot wear gloves unless you wear the ring OVER the glove. When dressing and undressing it must be the last thing you put on and the first thing you take off. The point here is that this ring was made to always be noticed and admired; it does not participate well

in other activities, it does not desire to fade into the woodwork, inconspicuous it is not and was never meant to be.

We will include the black velvet jewelry display stand shown in the photos here along with the purchase of the ring. Believe us, you will want to have it and you will use it often. As we said earlier, this spectacular ring is a singular artistic monument which is almost impossible to take one’s eyes off, it can command and hold an entire room in complete awe. This one is definitely one for the record books and if there is ever an art book or a major museum exhibition done on McKee Platero’s jewelry which there most certainly should be, this unbelievable ring will most certainly have an honorable place in it. Blow your friends away and demoralize your detractors in one fell swoop with this baby.

SOLD

"Insects are the true owners of the world. They were the first to arrive. Man was the last to arrive. We are still of the earth and we have to take care of the natural world. We must return to exalting the earth.”

-McKee Platero