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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 dedicated 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

"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

An outstanding large McKee Platero Navajo silver figural “Big Fly” ring set with turquoise, jet and Spondylus oyster shell, 2024

IN THE 40 OR SO YEARS that we have been enthusiastically admiring, buying and selling McKee Platero’s fantastic Navajo jewelry, this is one of the finest and most interesting pieces that we have ever seen and that is saying quite

a lot. Everything about it is just marvelous; the unique design concept, the flawless, technically brilliant execution and the total instant in your face visual impact. It’s one of the finest, 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 in that way, you can display it and continue admiring it from a different, more distant perspective. It’s hard to take one’s eyes off it, believe us.

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

The design is a unique rendition of a close to his heart theme which McKee Platero has explored numerous times throughout his career, the mythological Navajo creature, known as “Big Fly” or “Do-Tsoh” in Navajo. Big Fly is an important actor in the great Navajo creation story. He is very big medicine to the Navajo people as the appointed guardian of the sacred Medicinal healing sandpaintings and a sacred spirit and guardian who serves as a liaison between people and their spirit ancestors. Several of McKee Platero’s previous Big Fly iterations are shown below.

The size and scale of the ring are impressive. the ring’s face measures 2 3/16” in length and it is 1 1/2” in width at  

its widest point. The ring measures a size 9 on a professional graduated ring sizer and it weighs a substantial, yet surprisingly comfortable to wear 40 grams or 1 3/8 ounces. The ring is beautifully signed and dated in an elegant 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, 24”, all finely inscribed in a fancy cursive script with some decorative artistic doodles and his customary hallmark of three stamped dots in a row. In our opinions, Platero was clearly aware that he had created a great piece here and he signed it accordingly with great care and precision. The signature here is actually another miniature work of art applied onto the back of the larger work.

The ring is in new original condition. It is only some ten months old and was originally purchased directly from

McKee Platero in late 2024 at his home/studio by a professional colleague of ours just after it was completed, and then purchased in turn by us from our colleague soon afterwards 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 admiration. 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 beautiful small art object it is.

A few caveats to mention, this ring is a somewhat demanding mistress and careful attention must be paid as it needs to be the center of attention. 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.

And now, some brief remarks on the details of the ring’s unique construction. The ring’s thick silver shank is a very difficult to execute three-part split chisel design and the split and solid parts of the shank are all very subtly and beautifully beveled and contoured as well. 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 the various stones as well as the several applied silver decorative pieces; the insect's  "jaws" at top, the two large smoothly polished silver crescent shaped elements, one on each side, which form the details of the insect’s "wings" and the three sets of two finely stamped and fluted silver buttons, six in all, three on each side of the ring.

Interestingly, although we are referring to this piece as being an “insect” or “fly” ring, taken as a whole, the

design presentation also has a strangely stylized, anthropomorphic almost human aspect and resemblance to it as well. In a certain way, it almost looks alive. Overall, it’s an amazing artistic arrangement to contemplate. There are five set stones and shell pieces in total, all very finely hand-cut and some very beautifully shaped; there are two round pieces of clear sky-blue turquoise, possibly Sleeping Beauty, Arizona, at the top, a very finely carved larger and taller piece of triangularly-shaped precious black jet just below and then a very large trapezoidal piece of Spondylus or spiny oyster shell below in beautiful shades of light orange, deep red-orange and creamy whitish yellow nicely set in a very finely scalloped silver bezel.

As we said earlier, this stunning ring is a singular artistic expression and achievement which is almost impossible

to take one’s eyes off, it can command and hold an entire room all by itself.

This one is definitely one for the books and if there is ever a catalog raisonee or a major museum exhibition done on McKee Platero’s jewelry which there most certainly should be, this ring should most certainly have a proud place in it. Amaze your friends and demoralize your detractors in one fell swoop with this powerful “Big Fly.”

Price available upon request

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