Porphyry Birdstone made by Billy Guthrie Mid to late 1900's. Billy made a good number of these throughout his life. We see them scattered in collections, books and on display here and there at shows. Native Americans did make a few of these which is where modern makers originally got the idea for their version of the birdstone. It is hard to say that this is modern now because it could go back as far as the 1940's or perhaps as far back as the late 1800's (if it was one of the guys that taught/inspired Billy and he copied their work) when there were makers put to work by relic dealers capitalizing on a crazed European Market (that was info from Billy who knew makers from before his time). So although we do tend to use modern on pieces made like this there does come a point where they become vintage, historic or antique. Fun to look at and hold and always an eye catcher on the shelf this is a work of art from a very hard to work material. This piece likely took Billy a few days to complete and was one he done after mastering the making of birdstones. Billy lived from 1929 to 2006 and was considered the best of stone workers in the country over the last 100 years. This is the best one of these we have come across in recent years. The information stickers on the bottom of the piece is just made up info by a schiekster who tossed it on a sale, antique mall or show at a table to give it a false story which we still see regularly on modern made pieces. In the 1980's a piece like this from Billy would have cost several hundred dollars and he was always sold out to various deceased and a hand full of artifact dealers still alive today.

Modern