He Wants to be Called William Goodluck

Cover of Garden of the Gods Trading Post.

The cover of our newest release, Garden of the Gods Trading Post, shows Navajo silversmith William Goodluck and members of his family sitting on the porch of the Trading Post in 1929. The cover utilizes about half of the original postcard as seen in the below image.

Entire image of postcard of William Goodluck and family on the porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post that was partiallt used on the cover of the book. — Left to right, William Goodluck, son Herbert, daughter Charlotte behind a baby in a cradle board, wife Yekanasbah and daughter Elizabeth.

Goodluck came to work for Charles Strausenback during the time Charles managed “The Indian” trading post. The earliest confirmation of his employment is provided by a postcard postmarked July 16, 1927:

William Goodluck postcard 1927. — This souvenir postcard shows William Goodluck, identified by his Navajo name Host-Nat-Woty, standing near “The Indian” trading post. Mailed July 16, 1927, the sender wrote to Lelah May Hathaway, a former teacher at Carlisle Indian School, “We stopped this morning at the Garden of the Gods and there I met Wm. Goodluck who was once your pupil. He is a silversmith (Navajo). He was quite delighted to see me and told me he had been in your schoolroom. He gave me this picture to send you.”

Providing a clue to the type of jewelry Goodluck may have made while working at “The Indian” could be what he chose to wear while being photographed for the postcard above. The close-up below shows Goodluck’s arm and hand. Note the top bracelet, half hidden by his sleeve, is similar in construction to the top bracelet with the teardrop turquoise setting in the second image below.

Close up of jewelry on the arm of William Goodluck. — *A close-up view of jewelry on William Goodluck’s arm in the postcard above.*

Jewelry made at "The Indian" trading post 1924-1929. — These six silver bracelets were made between 1924 and 1929 at “The Indian” trading post by the Native American silversmiths who worked for Charles Strausenback. The bracelets are hallmarked SOLID SILVER HAND MADE AT THE “INDIAN” GARDEN OF THE GODS-COLO. The top bracelet is similar in design to one that William Goodluck wore in the photo above, so it is likely that he made that piece.

Beginning in the 1920s, William Goodluck and his family traveled to the Pikes Peak region to work during the summer months. Goodluck demonstrated silversmithing and his wife, Yekanasbah, worked as the resident Navajo rug weaver.

William Goodluck and family inside "The Indian" trading post. — *This photograph was taken inside “The Indian” trading post, where Goodluck is shown working silver while his wife, Yekanasbah, weaves at her loom and their children spin and card the wool.*

Goodluck continued his employment with Strausenback in 1929 when Charles opened his own Trading Post on the southern edge of Garden of the Gods park.

The porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post 1929, Porfilia and Severo Tafoya (Santa Clara Pueblo) are far left, Hosteen Goodluck sits on the porch, William Goodluck sits at a stump, with his wife and children near him.

According to a Colorado Springs Gazette article dated June, 9, 1929, “Indians Transplanted to Garden of the Gods in Strausenback’s New Trading Post,”

Four adult Navajos, a Navajo baby in its carriage and a family of Santa Claras are living at the Trading Post in Indian fashion. There are two hogans where the Indians live. In the Trading Post they weave blankets, work in silver and with the Indian’s choice gem, the turquoise. Heading the redskin delegation is old Hosteen and his son, Bill Goodluck. Hosteen is one of the old types of Indian silver workers, distaining modern bench conveniences for the methods of his forefathers. Hosteen and his son were in a party of Navajos at the Buffalo Exposition [in 1901] when President McKinley, a few hours before he was the victim of an assassin, stopped to talk to the Indians. Asking them their name he caught the Navajos phrase as “good luck” and the family adopted the name thereafter.

Hand tinted postcard of William Goodluck and family at Cheyenne Lodge 1930. — *Strausenback sometimes brought William Goodluck, Yekanasbah and family to work at the Cheyenne Lodge where Strausenback managed the curio shop in 1930.*

Strausenback took a number of souvenir photographs of the Goodluck family, while they were at “The Indian” trading post and then again shortly after Garden of the Gods Trading Post opened in 1929. Goodluck continued to work for Strausenback into the 1930s.

William Goodluck and two of his children on the porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post in 1935. — *Photo of William Goodluck at the anvil on the porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post published in the* Denver Post *June 16, 1935.* Courtesy Garden of the Gods Trading Post.

Hoske Nal Wooty was born about 1891 around Lupton, Arizona. He attended the Navajo Training School at Ft. Defiance from 1905-1908 and then in 1909 was enrolled at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania by his mother, Mrs. Good Luck. After enrollment it was noted in his student records that he “wants to be called Wm. Goodluck,” and Superintendent Friedman agreed he should be called by that name. His student records for the years 1909-1912 can be accessed at the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center. By 1920 he added the middle name Patrick and became known as William Patrick Goodluck in official documents.

While attending Carlisle, Goodluck apprenticed as a carpenter and between terms participated in the Summer Outing Program, where jobs and boarding in local homes or businesses was arranged for students allowing them to learn labor or farm skills and interact with the white world. From 1909-1910 he worked for Amos Krusen of Newtown, Pennsylvania and from 1910-1911 he worked for Joseph P. Canby of Hulmeville.

Under the employment of Canby it was noted, “Haski seems to be well pleased with his country home. He said he did not care if he returned to Carlisle in the fall or remained out.” On July 5, 1912 it was reported that, “He is a good earnest faithful worker. He has had experience living on good farms, also in the carpenter shop. Under the proper supervision he would make a good helper to a carpenter.” But he was to follow in his famous father’s footsteps.

Though he likely learned to work silver from his father Hosteen Goodluck, the first mention of William working as a silversmith is in the Carlisle records where on February 4, 1914 it was reported that he was working at that trade in Manuelito, New Mexico.

Anthropologist John Adair reported in his book The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths that in 1938 the “Goodluck outfit” was situated near Lupton, Arizona and that Billy Goodluck made approximately $1000 working year-round, Adair considered silversmiths of that caliber to be professional. Adair also referred to William as “Billy Goodluck,” as that seems to be the name the reservation traders knew him by, consequently, William has been known as Billy ever since.

Goodluck worked silver for many decades and attained a reputation as a master silversmith, when not in Colorado he worked from his home in Arizona. John D. Kennedy describes William in his book A Good Trade: Three Generations of Life and Trading in and around Gallup, NM:

Billy Goodluck was a fine Navajo silversmith who lived twenty miles west of Gallup, near Lupton, Arizona. He would come to see me in Zuni for piecework. I would give him about 200 ounces of silver and he would return in a few weeks with finished goods. He made fine, large concho belts that were very popular trade items with Navajos, Zunis and reservation traders.

Goodluck registered for the draft on April 21, 1942 at Ft. Defiance, his place of residence was listed as Houck, Arizona, but it appears he never served in the military. In 1958 William Goodluck served as the first president of the newly formed Navajo Chapter at Lupton. He died October 1967 near his home in Lupton.

No confirmed identification hallmark has been recorded for William Goodluck. Though Barton Wright included a drawing of a comb-like hallmark in the Second Edition of Hallmarks of the Southwest, there is currently no evidence that William Goodluck used this or any other personal hallmark. However work he made while employed by Charles Strausenback would be stamped with the shop marks used at “The Indian” (SOLID SILVER HAND MADE AT THE “INDIAN” GARDEN OF THE GODS-COLO) or Garden of the Gods Trading Post (SOLID SILVER HAND MADE BY INDIANS, or the Tewa Thunderbird logo).

A biography of William’s father Hosteen Goodluck can be found at the bottom of the blog To Be (Hosteen) or Not To Be, That is the Question.

Herbert, Elizabeth and Charlotte Goodluck stand outside of "The Indian" trading post. — From left to right, Herbert, Elizabeth and Charlotte—the children of William and Yekanasbah Goodluck—stand outside the ramada where their father made silver at “The Indian” trading post. On the ground are spoons and bracelets in progress and the silversmithing tools that William used. This c. 1925 photograph was taken by Charles Strausenback for his series of advertising postcards.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog May 27, 2019.

The Metalwork of Awa Tsireh

Sepia-toned lithograph of Awa Tsireh made by Charles Strausenback ca 1930s. — *Sepia-toned lithograph of Awa Tsireh made by Charles Strausenback ca 1930s*.

San Ildefonso artist Awa Tsireh (Alfonso Roybal) is best known as an early master of Pueblo painting; but in his lifetime he also gained renown as a silversmith.

Awa Tsireh (pronounced Ah-wah Sid-ee or See-day) was born in 1898 to Juan Estevan and Alfonsita Martinez Roybal; he was the eldest of six children. He drew sketches of dances and animals even before attending San Ildefonso Day School where the teacher provided drawing supplies. He did not continue his education after leaving the day school, and his drawing and painting skills were mostly self-taught; though he also learned from watching his uncle Crescencio Martinez who used watercolors to paint dancers on paper in the mid-1910s for Edgar Lee Hewitt. As a young man Awa Tsireh (Cat-tail Bird) painted the decorations on the pottery his mother made.

Modernist painting of Deer Dancer by Awa Tsireh. — *Modernist painting of Deer Dancer by Awa Tsireh*.

In the summer of 1917 Santa Fe poet Alice Corbin Henderson was introduced to Awa Tsireh’s paintings and she became his first patron and promoter. Awa Tsireh’s fame grew nationally in the 1920s prompting a successful one-man show in Chicago; he also painted most of the illustrations for the book Tewa Firelight Tales by Ahlee James published in 1927. In 1931 Awa Tsireh joined with other San Ildefonso artists, including Maria Martinez, Tonita Roybal and Abel Sanchez (Oqwa Pi), to exhibit their works at the Exposition of Indian Tribal Arts in New York City.

Awa Tsireh’s paintings of pueblo dancers and mythology, including black-and-white striped clowns (or kossa) and animals like skunks, owls, and turkeys were meticulously and precisely drawn in both realistic and modernistic styles. Animal forms such as skunks, roadrunners, and owls were also favored subjects of his silverwork.

Silver pins made by Awa Tsireh. — *Silver pins made by Awa Tsireh* .

It is not known when or from whom Awa Tsireh learned silversmithing but by 1931 he was described in a newspaper article as a painter and, “also a mural painter, a silversmith and a dancer.”

Round copper tray by Awa Tsireh. — *Round copper tray by Awa Tsireh*.

John Adair reported in his 1944 book The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths that Awa Tsireh was only one of three men in San Ildefonso who worked silver, and that he made pieces in his studio for the tourists who visited the pueblo. However, it was at Garden of the Gods Trading Post in Colorado Springs where the majority of his metalwork was made.

Garden of the Gods Trading Post ca 1930s. — *Garden of the Gods Trading Post ca 1930s*.

Garden of the Gods Trading Post was built in 1929 by Charles E. Strausenback, and is still in operation in the same building on the southern boundary of the Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs.

Postcard of Awa Tsireh dressed in Plains attire at Colorado Springs. — *Postcard of Awa Tsireh dressed in Plains attire at Colorado Springs*.

Awa Tsireh’s association with Garden of the Gods Trading Post had begun by 1930 and continued for at least two decades. His sister Santana Martinez recalled that “during the summer during the thirties and forties he used to go to a shop in Colorado Springs and do his paintings and silverwork there” (Seymour, When the Rainbow Touches Down). He was the most prominent of the many silversmiths who worked at the trading post over the decades; which included Hosteen Goodluck, William Goodluck and David Taliman.

*Copper crumb tray in the shape of a cloud made by Awa Tsireh.*

Awa Tsireh’s metalwork did not go without notice, as in 1938, when the Hutchinson, Kansas News-Herald, while reporting on the impending nuptials of a local couple, exclaimed:

Spell it Awa Tsireh—pronounce it A-Wa Si-dy! Whoever he is, he’s the Indian silversmith responsible for that symbolical silver plate which Elizabeth and Joe, to wed today, will give choice place in their household. Of about luncheon size, the plate center is beaten and etched with a god to watch over them, and filled in about and on the rim with emblems of wisdom, constancy, love and happiness. There is no other plate like it and there won’t be for the famous “Awa Sidy” never duplicates. Of New Mexico originally, he’s now collaborating with Charles E. Strausenback in a museum at the Garden of the Gods. The gorgeous silver bracelets which Elizabeth often wears are his work.

Round aluminum tray with Knifewing figure design by Awa Tsireh. — *Round aluminum tray with Knifewing figure design by Awa Tsireh*.

He split his efforts between painting and silversmithing during these years and in 1939 was commissioned to paint a mural on the front of the newly erected building to house Maisel’s Indian Trading Post in downtown Albuquerque. The trading post is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Awa Tsireh’s mural of a corn dance is still on view on the building’s facade.

Mural painted by Awa Tsireh on the front of Maisel's Indian Store in Albuquerque. — *Mural painted by Awa Tsireh on the front of Maisel’s Indian Store in Albuquerque*.

When it came to metalworking, Awa Tsireh worked in many mediums, not only in silver but also copper, nickel silver and aluminum. What has been written about Awa Tsireh’s paintings is also true of his metalwork, he was precise and meticulous and a master artist. His work shows magnificently designed and stamped elements and elegant repoussé work. He helped transform the metalwork made at Garden of the Gods from typical tourist style jewelry—with figural stamps of thunderbirds, arrows and whirling logs popular at the time— into pieces of art, most evident in the trays and pins that he produced.

Spoon, concho pin, matchbook holder, pill box and V for Victory pin all made by Awa Tsireh. — *Spoon, concho pin, matchbook holder, pill box and V for Victory pin all made by Awa Tsireh*.

Awa Tsireh made a variety of forms during his silversmithing career including bracelets, pins, rings, trays, bowls and concho belts. His work is signed AWA TSIREH and most often with one of the Garden of the Gods shop marks such as SOLID SILVER. Pieces that are only signed with his name, which are rare, were likely made at his studio in San Ildefonso. Items bearing shop marks from the Garden of the Gods Trading Post, but lacking the hallmark for Awa Tsireh, are not of the same quality of work as pieces signed with his name. Consequently, only those pieces bearing his hallmark AWA TSIREH can confidently be credited as his work.

Filed and stamped silver bracelet by Awa Tsireh. — *Filed and stamped silver bracelet by Awa Tsireh*.

His production of paintings and silverwork slowed after World War II, but Awa Tsireh continued to work. In 1954 he was awarded the French government’s Ordre des Palmes Académiques for “distinguished contributions to education or culture” along with eleven other Indian artists including Ambrose Roanhorse, Maria Martinez, Fred Kabotie, Alan Houser and Pablita Velarde.

Though he traveled fairly often, especially in summer, he always made the village of San Ildefonso his main residence. Awa Tsireh died tragically from exposure on the outskirts of San Ildefonso on March 29, 1955. He was memorialized a few months later by the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe with an exhibit of forty-three examples of his paintings.

Porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post ca 1930s. — *Porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post ca 1930s*.

The foregoing was derived from our book Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry: Artists, Traders, Guilds, and the Government, and originally published on our Goodreads.com blog June 30, 2016.

To Be (Hosteen), or Not To Be, That is the Question…

Recently the work of Navajo silversmith Hosteen Goodluck was the topic of discussion in one of the online jewelry forums. So, we proudly posted a concho (which has been converted to a belt buckle) that, when it was purchased decades ago, had been attributed to Hosteen Goodluck by trusted associates and knowledgeable dealers of Indian jewelry, including the late Jay Evetts. We were so confident of the attribution that we published the buckle in Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry as that of Hosteen Goodluck.

Concho attributed to Hosteen Goodluck as it appears on page 15 of Reassessing Hallmarks. — *Concho attributed to Hosteen Goodluck as it appears on page 15 of* Reassessing Hallmarks.

But even before that it was published on page 164 of American Indian Jewelry I: 1,200 Artist Biographies under the listing for Hosteen Goodluck:

Concho above published in American Indian Jewelry I: 1,200 Artist Biographies.

You can imagine our astonishment then when we were bluntly, and embarrassingly, made aware by those who consider themselves experts on Goodluck’s work that the buckle was definitely not made by Hosteen Goodluck. Notably, one dealer who attributed the buckle to Goodluck over 20 years ago now says they find no evidence to support that designation. Which was extremely discouraging.

To understand how our concho suddenly became the work of any other Navajo silversmith except Goodluck, we politely asked what defines Goodluck’s work; what was their source to judge his techniques, his skill, or use of design elements? None of those who proclaimed themselves extremely knowledgeable in Goodluck’s work were forthcoming with evidence why their pieces were by Goodluck, but ours wasn’t. They only pointed to work they attributed to Goodluck asking, “can’t you see the difference?” Truthfully, yes we could see the difference, but struggled with discerning how they were so certain of their conclusions.

So how would the work of Hosteen Goodluck, who died in 1937, be identified when that artist never signed his work or used a hallmark? Who can credibly attest to what Hosteen Goodluck’s silverwork looks like? Attributing silverwork made in the early part of the twentieth century, at a time when silversmith’s names were rarely attached to their work in any meaningful way, is a slippery slope without a hallmark, or some proof to back it up.

Due to the absence of clarification, we decided to do our own homework and went looking for the primary source, provenance, proof, or “smoking gun” that provided the facts for discerning the work of Hosteen Goodluck. We searched for something like a concho belt in a museum collection with solid provenance, or a photo of Goodluck hammering conchos to back up the attributions. There’s not much available online, nor in the books in our library, but we did finally find a primary resource from 1975, and it was right under our noses all along.

Sotheby Parke Bernet 1975 auction catalog for the C.G. Wallace collection of American Indian Art.

Yes, the C.G. Wallace Collection of American Indian Art catalog from the Sotheby Parke Bernet auction conducted in November 1975 has not one, not two, but six illustrated concho belts attributed to Hosteen Goodluck.

*Concho belts, numbers 59 and 61, attributed to Hosteen Goodluck by C.G. Wallace in the 1975 auction catalog.*

*Numbers 387 and 389, attributed to Hosteen Goodluck by C.G. Wallace in the 1975 auction catalog.*

*Concho belts 548 and 1091 attributed to Hosteen Goodluck by C.G. Wallace in the 1975 auction catalog.*

Now, it’s hard to argue with Wallace’s attributions, afterall, he was there working with the silversmiths from 1919 until 1964 or so. But it’s also difficult not to fault his memory, or record keeping, when some of his attributions in the catalog are now known to be so inaccurate. For example, two of the items attributed to Navajo silversmith Etsitty Tsosie (or Eskiesosie, Wallace’s corruption of the name), bracelet #691 and a “Zuni comb” #1141, were said to have been made in 1943 and 1955 respectively. However, Etsitty Tsosie died in 1937 and his passing made national headlines. This raises the question, are these merely typos in the catalog, or lapses in Wallace’s memory?

Number 1141 from the CG Wallace catalog.

From the Oakland Tribune June 24, 1937. — *From the* Oakland Tribune *June 24, 1937.*

To complicate matters, we recently stumbled upon a tidbit of gossip from years ago. We had always heard from old-time collectors of inconsistencies in the catalog’s attributions, but never saw any written confirmation of the rumors. The quote below is from someone who was actively collecting Zuni jewelry in 1975 and acquainted with those involved in the catalog.

Bob Ashton said when he and his wife Sharon did the catalog it took nine painful months because C.G. kept changing his mind on who made what pieces. Ashton said there are a lot of inconsistencies in that catalog.

But we digress.

So what do these six concho belts tell us about the work made by Hosteen Goodluck? If Wallace’s attributions can be trusted, then Goodluck was a silversmith with very diverse skills and techniques, because the design elements are different in each of the six belts. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find commonality in these six examples.

Was Hosteen Goodluck a master silversmith? Undoubtedly, as Ruth Falkenburg Kirk reported that by 1920 Goodluck was recognized as one of “the most expert and best known Indian smiths.”

We remain skeptical how these experts are so confident that they are the only ones who know every style of work, technique, and design element that Goodluck used, especially since they refuse to reveal their research to back-up their claims.

And, by the way, as we see it, concho belt #389 in the Wallace catalog is close enough in construction (at least from what we can see in the photograph) to actually support the earlier attribution that our concho was made by Hosteen Goodluck.

This incident exemplifies why we largely collect only hallmarked metalwork by Native American silversmiths; because a hallmark assures us of the maker of the piece and we am not dependent on some ephemeral attribution from a dealer who may, or may not, have done as much research as we have on the subject.

Hosteen Goodluck

Hosteen Goodluck was born, in what was to become the southern part of the Navajo Reservation, about 1865 and died March 26, 1937 according to the U.S. Indian Census Rolls. He was photographed June 6, 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Missouri where he demonstrated Navajo silversmithing, Navajo Man Good Luck.

arry Frank published this 1904 image in Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest, 1868-1930 on page 28, but was unaware the subject was silversmith Hosteen Goodluck. The silver squash blossom necklace and concho belt he wears in this image serves as excellent proof of his silversmithing skills. — *Larry Frank published this 1904 image in* Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest, 1868-1930 on page 28, but was unaware the subject was silversmith Hosteen Goodluck. The silver squash blossom necklace and concho belt he wears in this image serves as excellent proof of his silversmithing skills.

Goodluck worked for C. G. Wallace from 1919 to 1932 according to the auction catalog, and Wallace told Dale Stuart King in 1976 (Indian Silverwork, Volume Two), “Hosteen Goodluck was making heavy stamped leaves on bracelets and belt buckles in 1919. I moved Goodluck from Houck, Arizona, to Zuni to do cast work and as die maker.”

In 1929 Goodluck traveled to Colorado Springs to work for Charles Strausenback at Garden of the Gods Trading Post, he joined his son William Goodluck, who had worked for Strausenback in the preceding summers at another nearby trading post. According to a Colorado Springs Gazette article, “Indians Transplanted to Garden of the Gods in Strausenback’s New Trading Post,” dated June, 9, 1929,

Four adult Navajos, a Navajo baby in its carriage and a family of Santa Claras are living at the Trading Post in Indian fashion. There are two hogans where the Indians live. In the Trading Post they weave blankets, work in silver and with the Indian’s choice gem, the turquoise. Heading the redskin delegation is old Hosteen and his son, Bill Goodluck. Hosteen is one of the old types of Indian silver workers, distaining modern bench conveniences for the methods of his forefathers. Hosteen and his son were in a party of Navajos at the Buffalo Exposition [September 1901] when President McKinley, a few hours before he was the victim of an assassin, stopped to talk to the Indians. Asking them their name he caught the Navajos phrase as “good luck” and the family adopted the name thereafter.

Porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post ca. 1929, Porfilia and Severo Tafoya (Santa Clara Pueblo) are far left, Hosteen Goodluck sits on the porch, William Goodluck sits at a stump, with his wife and children around him.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog December 15, 2018.

Navajo Overlay Artist Willie Yazzie

After the success of the overlay designs made at the Hopi Guild many other silversmiths and shops incorporated overlay in their designs (see Overlay is Not Always Hopi Made). Navajo trader Dean Kirk opened his own trading post at Manuelito, New Mexico (between Gallup and the Arizona border) by January 1941. The silver work made in Dean’s shop was typically Navajo tourist type designs and hallmarked UITA22 (under the auspices of the United Indian Traders Association) until about 1951. That’s when Kirk designed a series of overlay pins to be made by Navajo smiths in his employ incorporating Hohokam and Mimbres designs. These designs proved to be very popular, as a 1958 newspaper advertisement for Enchanted Mesa in Albuquerque promoted “Dean Kirk’s Navajo Overlay Silver”. The overlay pieces made at Kirk’s shop were rarely hallmarked.

*Overlay pin featuring Hohokam pottery design made by Navajo silversmiths for trader Dean Kirk, 1950s.*

However, one of the Navajo silversmiths who worked for Dean Kirk was Willie Yazzie, he made his own hallmark and used it on pieces he made in Kirk’s shop.

*Willie Yazzie’s gourd dipper hallmark.*

Much of the following information was relayed to Alan Ferg (archivist and archaeologist at Arizona State Museum) by William P. (Willie) Yazzie, Jr, in February 2018. Ferg’s investigation of an overlay belt buckle in his possession, lacking a hallmark, has led to previously unrecorded information about Willie Yazzie, as well as the identification of an additional hallmark used by the artist.

Willie Yazzie made the overlay bolo at Dean Kirk’s shop, it includes a deer and stylized Hopi designs; a small piece of turquoise is inlaid flush in the deer’s body. His Navajo wedding basket pin incorporates a small piece of copper to symbolize the red band in traditional wedding baskets.

*Hallmarked belt buckle by Willie Yazzie, 1950s, with appliquéd Pueblo bird design utilizes more background, or negative space, than design.*

*Back of the Pueblo bird belt buckle above showing Willie Yazzie’s hallmark.*

According to Social Security records, Willie A. Yazzie was born at Chinle, Arizona in 1928. His son says he learned silverwork at Dean Kirk’s trading post in Manuelito in the early 1950s, and created his touchmark (or hallmark) no later than 1960, and after that time his pieces made at Dean Kirk’s would have included his gourd dipper hallmark. His designs often incorporated animal figures such as roadrunners or Navajo designs including Yeis and Father Sky. He never added “tamp work,” or a textured pattern to the background designs.

*Bracelet with appliqué swirl design made by Navajo silversmith Willie Yazzie for trader Dean Kirk.*

In 1960 Ansel Hall, concessionaire at Mesa Verde National Park, was looking for a silversmith to demonstrate at the park during the summers months, Dean Kirk recommended Willie Yazzie and he was hired by Hall. Willie worked at Mesa Verde in the summers from 1960 to 1983, except for 1965 when he was sick. Yazzie created a special hallmark to denote pieces he made at Mesa Verde. The mark depicts Square Tower House, a ruin within the park, and was included with his gourd dipper mark during the summers of 1960-1964 and 1966-1983.

*This salt spoon was made by Willie Yazzie while he worked at Mesa Verde National Park during the summers of 1960-1983, as indicated by the hallmarks on the back. Courtesy Bille Hougart.*

*Hallmarks on the back of the salt spoon above by Willie Yazzie includes his medicine dipper touchmark and the Square Tower House mark for work made at Mesa Verde National Park. Courtesy Bille Hougart.*

*Another image of Willie Yazzie’s gourd dipper hallmark with the Square Tower House mark for work made at Mesa Verde National Park. Courtesy Bille Hougart.*

Willie A. Yazzie died in 1999, but his family, including his widow, daughter and Willie Jr continue the tradition of Willie’s overlay work. Willie Jr said that his sister has most of their father’s tools and stamps, and that she still uses the gourd dipper mark. Willie uses mostly his initials as his hallmark, but doesn’t do much silverwork anymore, he is retired from the National Park Service where he was a ranger at Canyon de Chelly. Willie, who lives in Chinle, said his sons do a little silversmithing, but that they are busy and don’t have much time for it.

*Overlay pin by Willie Yazzie. Courtesy Karen Leblanc.*

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog July 20, 2018.

John Silver Never Worked at Vaughn’s

To be clear, Navajo silversmith John Silver, the owner of the star hallmark found on many silver and copper butterflies (and other exceptional jewelry) never worked for Reese Vaughn at any of his locations. Our research has found no connection between John Silver and Vaughn’s Indian Store. That is not to imply that further research, or as yet undiscovered resources, may one day indicate otherwise.

Copper and silver butterfly pins by John Silver.

The assumption that John Silver worked at Vaughn’s Indian Store seems to have originated in a design decision in Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry: Artists, Traders, Guilds, and the Government that we never imagined would result in any confusion.

In March 2008, after attending the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Pat and I unexpectedly ended the debate about whether to have the jewelry in our next project professionally photographed, or take the photos ourselves, when we stopped at a Phoenix camera shop to obtain a static-free lint brush and instead walked out with a Nikon digital camera and a home studio set-up.

During our initial efforts to photograph our own collection, with only a hazy vision of the final publication, we grouped four hallmarked butterfly pins into a single photograph. It turned out to be a visually appealing image, but the hallmarks on the pieces were diverse; two were signed with the same star hallmark, one marked with a knifewing figure, and another signed VAUGHN’S. At the time of the photograph only the Vaughn’s shop mark had a clear attribution, we still needed to research the other two marks.

Four butterfly pins with different hallmarks.

The star mark on the silver and copper butterflies, a five-pointed star with a raised circle in the center, had given us grief from the first time we saw it.

We had trouble accepting the general consensus that the mark belonged to Harold Koruh (Hopi) or to Dan Simplicio (Zuni). Neither attribution felt right as the work was nothing like we would expect from Koruh, a Hopi who learned in the GI Bill classes under Paul Saufkie; nor Simplicio who most often worked with stone settings. The Koruh attribution sprang from the star hallmark illustrated in Margaret Wright’s Hopi Silver:

Harold Koruh entry in Margaret Wright's Hopi Silver.

And the Simplicio attribution from Barton Wright’s Hallmarks of the Southwest:

Dan Simplicio entry in Barton Wright's Hallmarks of the Southwest.

Though neither drawing was a match to the star hallmark in question, there wasn’t any evidence that it belonged to any other silversmith.

After some time, and discussions with Russell Hartman—then Collections Manager for the Anthropology Department at California Academy of Sciences—we discovered the star hallmark on those butterflies had been documented in the Elkus Collection as that of John Silver (Navajo), found at this link Collections Database listing for CAS 0370-1646. The Elkus Collection, as discussed in previous blogs, is one of the most thoroughly documented collections of Indian art ever assembled.

Supporting our attribution of John Silver for the star mark on butterflies were actual examples of Dan Simplicio’s hallmark, only available after the proliferation of digital cameras, which confirmed his mark to be very similar, yet different from the one we had.

Finally, the last hallmark in our grouping of four butterflies, the knifewing with GALLUP in the center, was identified as that of Gallup Mercantile with the help of Jay Evetts.

After lengthy research it finally came time to write the manuscript. We had enough information on Vaughn’s Indian Store to not only include the shop mark, but also a couple of paragraphs about the owner Reese Vaughn and a few of the silversmiths who worked there. We had two photographs that each contained different versions of the Vaughn’s shop mark, so it felt natural to place them with the text. Unfortunately, this didn’t allow the two marks not associated with Vaughn’s to speak for themselves.

Here is page 48 from the book as the publisher designed it:

Page 48 from Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry.

With the caption:

Caption from page 48 or the image above.

As you can see, we never actually wrote anywhere that John Silver worked at Vaughn’s. But we now see that having his hallmark on the same page devoted to the history of Vaughn’s Indian Store implied that he did. We regret the unfortunate misperception that this has caused.

As for John Silver, he has been challenging to pin down. It is possible that he could have also gone by the names John Etcitty, or John/Johnny Silversmith, who worked at Zion National Park and Garden of the Gods Trading Post. However, listed in the appendix of Navajo silversmiths working in 1938 in John Adair’s Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths, are two John Silversmiths and one John Silver. Unfortunately it may be impossible to ever know exactly which of these may have used the star hallmark.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog May 28, 2018.

Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild

The foundation for an arts and crafts guild for the Navajo tribe was laid in 1939 when a crafts program was established at Fort Wingate, New Mexico with assistance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Ambrose Roanhorse was selected as director of the project, the purpose of which was to provide employment for those who had learned silversmithing at federal Indian schools as well as for established silversmiths in the vicinity. Roanhorse distributed supplies on the reservation and collected finished work to be sold through the guild. By 1940, with the help of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB), the program was established as the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild (NACG), though it was not formally chartered by the tribal council until 1941, at which time it moved to Window Rock.

Bolo, buckle and cast pins made for the Navajo Guild 1940s-1950s. — *Bolo, buckle and cast pins made for the Navajo Guild 1940s-1950s*.

Silver was produced either at the guild shop, in the homes of the craftsmen, or at community workshops established on the reservation. Materials and supplies were issued only to craftsmen who could meet the standards and requirements for quality established by the guild. These standards were similar to the stringent standards set in 1938 by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board silver stamping program (which meant no power-driven machinery nor sheet silver could be used in the production)[see Note * below]—though craftsmen having their own materials, supplies, and workshops could offer their products for sale to the guild. Full-time managers were hired, and one of the first was Anglo anthropologist John Adair.

Two bracelets made for the Navajo Guild 1940s-1950s. — *Two bracelets made for the Navajo Guild 1940s-1950s*.

In his 1944 book The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths, Adair wrote,

The purpose of the guild is to increase the tribal income from the sale of arts and crafts by promotion of fine handicrafts which will sell in quality stores in the East, Middle West, and Southwest. The tourist market is purposely avoided, as it does not yield as high a return per man hour as the more exclusive stores and shops. The type of silverware that the guild promotes is similar to that which has been at the Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Fort Wingate Indian schools; a revival of the old simple types of jewelry, without sets for the most part. Emphasis is placed on cast work. The guild also handles vegetable-dyed rugs and some aniline-dyed rugs of similar pattern and excellent workmanship. (pg 209)

Two of the “quality stores” who purchased from the Navajo Guild in 1947 were Marshall Field’s and Tiffany’s.

In 1943 the United Indian Traders Association (UITA) complained that the guild was in direct competition with the traders. The controversy continued in 1946 during the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial when Arthur Woodward, one of the judges of the silversmithing division, was shocked to learn that the craftsmen who worked with the NACG were not permitted to submit their work for competition. The Ceremonial board contended the Navajo Guild was government subsidized and should be disqualified; Woodward refuted their claim in an open letter published in the Gallup Independent newspaper, saying that guild craftsmen were in business for themselves and questioned whether the Gallup traders feared their silver would fare poorly in competition with the silver made by guild craftsmen.

Despite complaints from the reservation traders, the guild continued to succeed and grow; Ned Hatathli was named the first Navajo manager in 1951. In 1964 the guild opened its first branch at Cameron, Arizona, under the management of Kenneth Begay. By the late 1960s the NACG had added branches at Betatakin (Navajo National Monument), Kayenta, Teec Nos Pos, and Chinle.

In 1971 the guild became the Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise (NACE) and continues to be the only Navajo Nation–owned business engaged in the purchase and sale of Navajo-made arts and crafts.

The title “Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild” and its Horned Moon logo were registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1943. Items made through the NACG were hallmarked with the Horned Moon logo and often included the word NAVAJO. Sometimes individual silversmiths’ hallmarks are also found on these pieces.

Navajo Guild hallmarks on the back of the two bracelets above.

Note* For discussions of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board silver stamping program that ran from 1938-1943 see Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry by Pat & Kim Messier, Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks by Bille Hougart, and The Native American Curio Trade In New Mexico by Jonathan Batkin. IACB numbers were assigned April 1938, but the Navajo Guild at Fort Wingate was assigned US NAVAJO 70 in March 1940.

Two pins marked U.S. NAVAJO 70 made for the Navajo Guild at Fort Wingate.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog October 19, 2017.

The Rediscovery of a “Lost” Hallmark

Every once in a while a hallmark from decades ago surfaces that has no recorded identification or attribution. When confronted with the task of identifying these challenges we delve into our research and memories to try to find the proper identification. The task can often be mind-numbing and impossible to solve, but sometimes it’s a relatively easy assignment.

For example, on Facebook recently American Indian art dealer Karen Leblanc posted images of this old hand hammered Navajo silver tray.

Early silver footed dish. Photo courtesy Karen Leblanc.

Along with an image of the hallmark on the back.

Hallmark on back of silver dish. Photo courtesy Karen Leblanc.

Even though the hallmark was not stamped cleanly and is a little vague on one side, it set off bells in our heads. We are intimately familiar with this Navajo Yei figure as it also appears as a design element on a 1930s Navajo ashtray we own.

We purchased the ashtray because of those Yei designs which formed the basis of a hunch we had about its origin, but didn’t know if we would find the corroborating evidence to confirm it.

During our research on the United Indian Traders Association for Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry we encountered the document below online at Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester.

Cover of Lectures on Arts and Crafts of the Navajo Indians.

This was our first indication that Berton I. Staples, trader at Coolidge, New Mexico in the 1930s, may have used a hallmark on the silver made by his Navajo employees. It was very common that traders who employed Indian silversmiths would have their business logo made into shop marks for identifying the silver made in their shops. But we had not seen this figure used as an actual hallmark, only as a design element.

Back when we bought our ashtray we ran through our references and found mention in the Elkus Collection catalog, published by the California Academy of Sciences, of this Yei design used on flatware made by two of Staples’ Navajo silversmiths, and commissioned by the Elkus’s.

An image of a place setting of the flatware is included.

Below is a close-up of the design.

Having been used as a design element and business logo does not guarantee that this figure was used as a hallmark. That is, not until Ms. Leblanc posted the images of her silver tray.

We set forth on a mission to prove our hunch. Since the construction techniques and stamped designs of Karen’s tray confirmed a creation date in the 1930s (as did our ashtray with the Yei figure design), we knew we were on the right track. We reviewed our research again and double checked our references, to try to prove, or to disprove, our theory while also considering who else during that time could have used this Yei figure other than Staples. We determined it was unlikely that Charlie and Madge Newcomb, who purchased Staples’ trading post after his death in 1938, would have continued to use someone else’s business logo in their own business. So we finally concluded that the hallmark did, in fact, belong to Berton I. Staples. This was one of our easiest attributions to date!

It could have been even easier if we had just gone to the California Academy of Sciences online database for the Elkus Collection first. Between 1922 and 1965 Ruth and Charles deYoung Elkus of San Francisco assembled an important collection of nearly 1700 examples of historic and contemporary Native American art, and they documented it thoroughly at the time of acquisition. California Academy of Sciences has made the collection available in an online database for decades, we used it to research Hopi & Pueblo Tiles: An Illustrated History. Anyway, there we would have found this entry, Navajo Match Box Holder which includes in its description this phrase “Image of Navajo horned moon (hallmark of Bert I. Staples’ Crafts del Navajo Shop, Coolidge, NM and symbol used on Elkus family silverware.)” The proof of the ownership of this hallmark doesn’t get any better than this (even though the depiction is actually that of a Yei, and not the Horned Moon).

So, attribution in hand we informed Ms. Leblanc that in our opinion her tray was made by silversmiths who worked for Berton Staples at his Crafts del Navajo trading post in the 1930s. It was requested that she send an image of the mark to Bille Hougart, author of Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, for his consideration of including it in his hallmark database, and to be added to the next revision of his identification guide. In the meantime we sent our supporting evidence backing up our attribution to him. And our excitement at having rediscovered this hallmark was doubled by Mr. Hougart’s agreement of the attribution.

It should be noted that Barton Wright attributed the United Indian Traders Association hallmark UITA 3 to Berton Staples in his Second Edition of Hallmarks of the Southwest. Even though Barton’s listing in the Shop Mark section is labeled as No Records: Preliminary Listing it has been taken as gospel and perpetuated across the Internet. But it is impossible that any UITA mark belonged to Staples since he passed away in 1938, and the UITA silver stamping program was initiated in 1946. We think Barton assumed that the number assigned to Staples for the Indian Arts and Craft Board (IACB) silver stamping program in 1938, US NAVAJO 3, would have been carried over to the UITA program. But Barton must have been unaware at the time that Staples had passed before the UITA program was originated.

UITA 3 hallmark. — Not the UITA hallmark for Staples, rather it likely belonged to Toadlena Trading Post or Two Grey Hills Trading Post.

We agree with Bille Hougart’s attribution of UITA 3 to either Toadlena Trading Post or Two Grey Hills Trading Post.

Berton I. Staples

Berton Isaac Staples was born 1873 in Vermont and moved to New Mexico in 1916. After working for various merchants in the area around Thoreau he went into business for himself and in 1925 opened Crafts del Navajo, a trading post at Coolidge, New Mexico on Route 66 east of Gallup. The rambling structure he built there served as a trading post, museum, guest lodge and post office.

Staples was passionate about Navajo art. He, “became devoted to the Navajo and started his own collection of their handicrafts which in time became generally recognized as the finest private collection of Navajo handicrafts in the United States.” He served as president of the United Indian Traders Association from its inception in 1931 until his death. He was appointed to the committee that helped organize the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, and he served on the board for the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial. Staples died October 9, 1938 in a car crash between Thoreau and Crownpoint, New Mexico. [see Note * at end]

School Arts Magazine March 1931. — *Navajo silver jewelry made at Crafts del Navajo, and a silversmith with his family. Image from March 1931 issue of* School Arts Magazine.

*The biographical information about Staples was taken from the article, “Berton I. Staples Killed in Car Wreck; Rated Authority on Indian Arts and Crafts,” published in Southwest Tourist News, October 13, 1938.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog July 16, 2017.

The Use of the Swastika Symbol in American Indian Art

One of the most popular designs incorporated into American Indian art during the tourist era— approximately 1890 to 1940—was the swastika symbol, common to most indigenous peoples the world over and used throughout time.

*Copper bookends by Morris Robinson (Hopi). The swastika design indicates they were made before 1940.*

There is historical precedence of the use of swastika-like designs by North American native peoples, who usually viewed the symbol as a representation of the four directions; for instance the Navajo use a design often referred to as “whirling logs” in sandpaintings,

1930s postcard showing Navajos creating a Whirling Log sandpainting, the design is similar to the swastika design.

and the Hopi paint a four-armed pinwheel design on rattles symbolizing the migrations of the clans across the continent.

Hopi rattle with four-armed migration symbol. — *Hopi rattle with four-armed migration symbol*.

A great deal of interest was generated in the swastika symbol around the turn of the twentieth century and was fueled in part by an 1894 report of the U.S. National Museum written by Thomas Wilson entitled The Swastika: The Earliest Known Symbol, and Its Migrations. The symbol became a very popular design element representing good luck and was prevalent in period architecture, advertising, jewelry, and on good luck tokens. The Arizona Highway Department even used it as part of their emblem. Because of its popularity, traders encouraged Indian artists to use it on their crafts made for sale to the tourist trade. The design often appeared on silverwork, textiles, pottery, and basketry.

*Zia pottery tile ca. 1930s with painted swastika design.*

Beginning in 1934 East Coast dealers of Indian goods urged reservation traders to discourage native craftspeople from using the swastika as a design element because of its adoption by the German Nazi Party. When the Fred Harvey Company, a major dealer in Indian arts, issued a mail order catalog in 1938 the symbol had been discontinued from their products.

Fred Harvey mail order catalog published 1938. — *Fred Harvey mail order catalog published 1938*.

Popularity of the design waned, eventually resulting in a proclamation signed on February 28, 1940, in Tucson by representatives from the Hopi, Navajo, Apache, and Tohono O’odham (formerly Papago) tribes, renouncing and banning the use of the swastika on their artwork. The text of this parchment document read:

Because the above ornament which has been a symbol of friendship among our forefathers for many centuries has been desecrated recently by another nation of peoples, Therefore it is resolved that henceforth from this date on and forever more our tribes renounce the use of the emblem commonly known today as the swastika or fylfot on our blankets, baskets, art objects, sandpaintings and clothing.

*Postcard showing Indians from various southwest tribes signing a declaration that they would not use the swastika symbol on their artwork after February 28, 1940.*

It is likely that the signing of the document by members of southwest tribes was a form of public relations arranged by area traders to distance Indian handicrafts from the atrocities occurring overseas. Nevertheless, the inclusion of this symbol on Indian artwork was discontinued at that time.

There was a small resurgence of the use of the symbol in the 1970s, especially by some Anglo silversmiths who made jewelry to look like historic, or pawn, Navajo jewelry. Presently, Native artists occasionally attempt to reintroduce the symbol into their artwork, but it has been met with resistance.

Six bracelets, c. 1925, marked SOLID SILVER HAND MADE AT THE "INDIAN" GARDEN OF THE GODS-COLO, most include a form of the swastika design. — Six bracelets, c. 1925, marked SOLID SILVER HAND MADE AT THE “INDIAN” GARDEN OF THE GODS-COLO, most include a form of the swastika design.

The foregoing was adapted from our books Hopi & Pueblo Tiles: An Illustrated History and Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry: Artists, Traders, Guilds, and the Government.

Originally posted on our Goodreads.com blog February 15, 2017.

The Definitive Hallmark Reference Guide (and why you should own it)

Dear American Indian Jewelry Enthusiast,

Before you think to yourself, “Should I invest in another hallmark book?” consider that all of us—dealers, collectors and researchers alike—have been waiting a long time (actually, forever) for a reliable, accurate and comprehensive identification guide to the hallmarks used by Native American silversmiths (as well as by those who work in similar styles of jewelry). That day arrived in 2016 with the publication of the Third Edition of Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, by Bille Hougart, and Pat and I can’t recommend this book highly enough. (Note: The revised Fourth Edition was published March 2019 with even more marks, corrections and a reorganized format).

Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks 4th edition

The 3rd edition not only includes over 500 new entries but also corrects previously published errors and long-held misbeliefs as well as properly identifies the hallmarks of many of the most important silversmiths who ever worked. For instance, the correct hallmarks will now be found under the listings for Ambrose Roanhorse and Ambrose Lincoln, Dan Simplicio and John Silver, Homer Vance, and Fred and Frank Peshlakai. There are also significant corrections to the entries for Austin, Ike and Katherine Wilson. Also note there are now separate entries for Garden of the Gods Trading Post and “The Indian” as Mr. Hougart was kind enough to include our most recent research into these two establishments. And while many of the marks used by Navajo silversmiths who worked for C.G. Wallace remain to be adequately identified their treatment in this volume allows for future research.

But the book is more than an identification guide as there is also considerable information about the IACB silver stamping program, guilds, traders and trader’s organizations; plus information on shop stamps and manufacturers of machine made “Indian style” jewelry.

Back in 1972 when Margaret Wright published Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing it was the first book to depict hallmarks used by any group of Indian silversmiths (in this case by Hopi smiths). At that time there was no other way to depict the hallmarks than by using hand drawn illustrations. When Barton Wright’s Hallmarks of the Southwest was published in 1989 it included hallmarks of all southwest silversmiths regardless of tribal affiliation, and also utilized hand drawn depictions of the hallmarks. And even though the second revised edition (published in 2000) is still used as a primary resource, since it is now over fifteen years old, and much new information has come to light in those fifteen years, it has proven to be sorely out of date.

Advances in digital photography and printing technology have facilitated the use of actual photographs of the hallmarks versus the drawings used in older publications. For instance, when Barton Wright drew this mark for Grant Jenkins he successfully rendered the general idea of a coyote head in profile with two ears, an eye and slightly open mouth:

Grant Jenkins entry in Baron Wright's Hallmarks of the Southwest.

However the actual hallmark is significantly different, as these images of two versions of Grant Jenkins’ hallmark illustrate.

Another version of Grant Jenkins' hallmark.

As these examples confirm, images of the actual hallmarks make for accurate attributions, less confusion and fewer debates. Since Mr. Hougart’s first edition, The Little Book of Marks on Southwestern Silver: Silversmiths, Designers, Guilds and Traders, he has incorporated images of hallmarks in his identification guides, making them valuable references. And the 4th edition, with its upgraded paper choice and use of digital printing, affords the clearest images of the hallmarks yet.

Mr. Hougart continues to research and update the hallmark database, employing all available hallmark resources (see our blog post Reassessing Native American Hallmark Books), plus a multitude of other references as evidenced by his extensive bibliography. Consequently the third and fourth editions are by far the most accurate, reliable and comprehensive hallmark identification guides ever published.

So, yes, dear reader, you really do need to own this book, and use it exclusively, putting all previous hallmark guides away for old time’s sake.

Full disclosure: We were pleased to contribute our entire hallmark database to Mr. Hougart’s research and honored to be asked to participate in the editing process for the 3rd and 4th editions as well.

Originally posted on our Goodreads.com blog June 21, 2016 for the Third Edition of the book.

Hopi Pottery Tiles sold by Fred Harvey Company

Since the opening in April 2016 of the excellent Heard Museum exhibit Over the Edge: Fred Harvey at the Grand Canyon and in the Great Southwest, curated by Kathleen Howard and Diana Pardue…

Diana Pardue and Kathleen Howard. — *Co-Curators Diana Pardue and Kathleen Howard*.

We have been thinking again about the Hopi tiles sold by the Fred Harvey Company in the early twentieth century.

Rectangular Hopi tile, ca 1890-1910, with kachina mask design. — *Rectangular Hopi tile, ca 1890-1910, with kachina mask design*.

The Fred Harvey Company established the Indian Department in 1902, headquartered in the Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque, as a museum and showroom, with the intent of promoting and selling Indian handmade goods in its chain of lodges, shops, and restaurants at locations throughout the West.

Outside the Indian Building of the Alvarado Hotel, Pueblo potters sold their wares to guests and train passengers. — *Outside the Indian Building of the Alvarado Hotel, Pueblo potters sold their wares to guests and train passengers*.

The Indian Department also wholesaled Indian-made crafts to dealers and curio shops in the east. By the first decade of the twentieth century the Fred Harvey Company had become the largest distributor of high-quality Indian arts in the United States.

*Rectangular Hopi tile, ca 1890s with full-bodied kachina design. The streaky yellow color is the result of a coat of varnish applied by a previous owner.*

From the 1900s to the 1930s the Harvey Company was also the biggest outlet for Hopi tiles. In a 1963 Plateau article titled “The Fred Harvey Collection 1899-1963”, Byron Harvey III, great-grandson of founder Fred Harvey, referred to the Harvey Company’s inventory when he wrote, “C.L. Owen obtained Hopi pottery from his residence in Toreva in 1913 and included tiles and flower pots. A letter, written in 1921, estimated that the company still had over 2,700 of these Hopi tiles.”

Hexagonal Hopi tiles, ca 1890. — *Hexagonal Hopi tiles, ca 1890, may have been made by only a handful of Hopi potters*.

The tiles sold through the Harvey Company came in only three shapes: square, rectangle and hexagon. They exhibit signs of being nearly mass-produced, many showing hurried manufacture resulting in poor quality, and they were marketed primarily to tourists. Thousands of tiles were made between 1895 and 1930, and nearly every institution with an inventory of Hopi pottery—such as the Heard Museum, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Denver Art Museum and the Brooklyn Museum—has one or more tiles with the ubiquitous Harvey Company sticker, FROM THE HOPI VILLAGES, attached to the back.

Though the Harvey Company sold the majority of these tiles (hence they are commonly termed “Fred Harvey tiles”), it is important to note that the company was not permitted to purchase directly from the Hopi until 1910, when Herman Schweizer, head of the Indian Department, was given permission by the government superintendent of the reservation. Until that time Harvey Company had obtained all Hopi crafts through reservation traders, especially Thomas Keam, although these traders did not sell solely to Fred Harvey.

Square Hopi tiles with kachina mask designs, measuring 3-3/8” square, ca 1890-1910. — *Square Hopi tiles with kachina mask designs, measuring 3-3/8” square, ca 1890-1910*.

The most common of these tiles are square in shape with the painted design of kachina masks. These tiles were made continuously for about thirty years, and vary minimally in size-typically 3-3/8” inches in height and width-this uniformity may indicate that molds were used in their production.

The painted designs were formulaic: most often two thin lines outline a single kachina mask. Perhaps ninety percent of Harvey tiles are decorated with kachina masks, as kachinas lent an exotic air while portraying tradition and authenticity to potential buyers, who were mostly tourists from the east unfamiliar with Indian pottery.

Most of the kachina masks are unidentifiable and fall into a category of fanciful depictions that are either conglomerations of various kachinas or otherwise altered masks. When actual masks are portrayed they are most often of Palhik Mana (Butterfly Maiden), Wakas (cow), Kipok (warrior), Koshare (Hano clown) or Qoqoqle (often referred to as the “Santa Claus” kachina). The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe has eighteen of these tiles in their collection, nine of which were originally shipped by trader Charles L. Owen from Toreva, Arizona to the Fred Harvey Company in 1913.

Hopi tiles were very popular, reaching their heyday in the first years of the twentieth century and peaking in the 1920s.

The Harvey Label

Back of Hopi tile with Fred Harvey label, ca 1890-1900. — *Back of Hopi tile with Fred Harvey label, ca 1890-1900*.

Byron Harvey III also discussed the “Fred Harvey label,” used by the Harvey Company in his 1963 article for Plateau. He reported that it was still in use at that time, and that the labels were intended as price stickers, as well as identifiers of origin, and cost codes were also recorded on them. The original label was rectangular with clipped edges, had a black border and measured approximately one inch by three-quarters of an inch in size.

*Typical label used by Fred Harvey Company on Hopi pottery.*

The typeface changed, presumably in the 1920s, to a sleeker Art Deco style, and a white outer border was added at the same time.

Less commonly seen variation of the Harvey label, ca 1920s. — *Less commonly seen variation of the Harvey label, ca 1920s*.

The most common label used was FROM THE HOPI VILLAGES, and it appeared on most Hopi pottery plus some kachina dolls sold through company stores. There were labels for other tribal affiliations-for example, “From the Pueblo of Santa Clara”. The stickers were used primarily from the 1900s to the 1930s and are less commonly seen on articles dating from the 1940s to the 1960s, perhaps reflecting the diminishing quantity of Indian crafts sold through the company after the 1930s.

The foregoing was derived from our book Hopi & Pueblo Tiles: An Illustrated History.

Originally published May 29, 2016 on our Goodreads.com blog.