At the Sign of the Cart

We are frequently approached by collectors asking for assistance to identify hallmarks on Native American jewelry. Sometimes the maker is easy to identify, other times the attribution is more difficult to make. Many times the marks are unattributable as they were used by Native American or Anglo craftsmen who worked during the “boom” years of the 1970s and their identification marks were not recorded. But every so often we are challenged by an obviously old hallmark that has not previously been described or seen.

Such was the case for a hallmark shared with us recently by collector Gloria Dollar. Her tourist era pin in the shape of a deer, likely made by a Pueblo silversmith, has a hallmark on the back depicting a cart. The mark was at first a mystery, but vaguely familiar. Once the “aha” moment struck we began the required investigation to attribute this unusual hallmark. The cart hallmark reminded us of the two-wheeled ox cart, or carreta that has been the logo for a Santa Fe curio store for more than a century.

It all started with a merchant named Jake Gold. Jake left New York in 1862 and joined his father Louis Gold, along with his brothers Aaron and Abe, in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory. The Golds became successful merchants in the city concentrating on groceries and general merchandise. However in 1880 Aaron Gold opened Gold’s Provision House on the corner of San Francisco Street and Burro Alley, it not only offered groceries and provisions, it was also the first place “in town where Rare Specimens of Indian Pottery, ancient and modern” were on display. By 1883 the store was managed by Aaron’s youngest brother Jake, who acquired the business from Aaron the same year and changed the name to Gold’s Free Museum which could be found at the “Sign of Indian Cart” on San Francisco Street. By 1893 Jake renamed the business the Old Curiosity Shop, established 1862, the year he came to Santa Fe.

*Circa 1890 photograph of Jake Gold’s Old Curiosity Shop at the corner of San Francisco Street and Burro Alley, note the two-wheeled ox cart, or* carreta on the roof.

Jake purchased the property in October 1890 and in 1893 set about improving his place of business by nearly doubling the capacity and enlarging the main sales room. Jake became the leading dealer in Santa Fe of Indian pottery and blankets, Chimayo weavings and Mexican curios, and was referred to as “The Curio Man” in the local newspaper, he had become an important component of the territorial economy. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported on July 1, 1893, he, “has at least thirty men and women constantly employed at Chimayo, in the Navajo country and elsewhere manufacturing his supply of Indian and Mexican blankets. Also he has a dozen or so men on the road traveling all over New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico, gathering all manner of curios for his stock.” He was, perhaps, the first in a long line of curio dealers, or Indian traders as we know them today, who wove tall tales in order to entice buyers with the rarity of their goods; in 1894 journalist Henry Russell Wray wrote that, “in this shop of Jake’s you can purchase the last pair of trousers worn by Columbus, the sword De Soto wore, the hat of Cabeza de Vaca or the breastplate of silver worn by Cortez.”

*1894 advertisement for Jake Gold’s Old Curiosity Shop.*

But it all came crashing down in 1896 when Jake was charged with violating the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act, and was additionally charged with abandonment for leaving his wife Lizzie. To avoid prosecution, he fled to El Paso, Texas losing his business in the process. He was eventually returned to Santa Fe where he pled guilty and for which he was sentenced to a year in the territorial penitentiary, a sentence which began in January 1901. After Jake abandoned his business the property and stock were purchased by his brother Abe who continued to run it as Gold’s Old Curiosity Shop.

While in prison Jake corresponded with his friend Candelario. J.S. (Jesus Sito) Candelario was born 1864 in New Mexico and first worked in Santa Fe as a clerk for Blain Brothers who were merchants, pawnbrokers and dealers in second-hand goods. But in 1891 he launched out on his own opening a second-hand shop and advertising himself as an auctioneer and pawnbroker who “buys, sells, rents and exchanges second hand goods on Lower San Francisco Street,” in the same vicinity as Jake’s former store. This business appears to have closed by 1902.

Jake and Candelario were laying the foundation for a partnership as curio dealers and Candelario began procuring Pueblo pottery, Navajo blankets and other goods. After Jake’s return to Santa Fe, the Old Curio Shop—Jake Gold, manager, J.S. Candelario, proprietor—opened in January 1902 on San Francisco Street, a few doors to the east of the Old Curiosity Shop now owned by Abe Gold. The new partnership didn’t last long, in June 1903 Jake Gold and Candelario parted ways amicably with Jake taking over management of his brother Abe’s store. Candelario continued in business under the name the Old Curio Store, and the roof, of course, was ornamented with an old carreta.

But the death of Abe Gold in August 1903, and subsequently the demise of Jake Gold, “the original old curio man,” in December 1905 left J.S. Candelario as the most prominent curio dealer in Santa Fe. Candelario quickly assumed the role of “The Curio Man” and renamed his shop the Original Old Curio Store, advertised as the biggest curio store in the west, at 301-303 San Francisco Street, “Look for the Old Mexican Cart.”

*J.S. Candelario’s the Original Old Curio Store at 301-303 San Francisco Street with a two-wheeled ox cart, or carreta displayed* *on the roof.*

*Postcard published by J.S. Candelario around 1910.*

The Original Old Curio Store was photographed around 1910 during a snow storm in Santa Fe. Jake Gold’s original shop at the corner of San Francisco Street and Burro Alley can be seen a few doors to the left of Candelario’s.

He claimed to be the largest wholesale and retail dealer in genuine Indian and Mexican goods in the United States and maintained that he was the only native-born curio dealer in the Rocky Mountain district. Candelario’s shop became a must-see for visitors to Santa Fe, attracting the curious and the famous alike including Sinclair Lewis, William Jennings Bryan and President Theodore Roosevelt. Besides thousands of curios offered for sale, comprising Indian blankets, baskets, pottery, drawn work, and turquoise from his own mine near Cerrillos, he also publicized his collection of relics accumulated over the years that were emphatically not for sale. These included the oldest bell in America cast in 1330, a suit of clothes said to have been worn by a man when killed by lightning and a silver spur said to have been worn by Emperor Maximilian on his last horseback ride. His assertion that the business was established in 1603 was as large a fabrication as was the rarity of his relics.

*Postcard published by J.S. Candelario, looking towards Saint Francis Cathedral, the Original Old Curio Shop can be seen on the left, the north side of San Francisco Street.*

*Circa 1925 business card for J.S. Candelario.*

Upon Candelario’s death on July 30, 1938 the Santa Fe New Mexican proclaimed him, “one of the most prominent curio dealers and property owners in the entire Southwest.” The store had closed the year prior after J.S. suffered a heart attack. His grandson (and adopted son as well), and sole heir, John S. Candelario (1916-1993) inherited his grandfather’s estate and reopened the store in December 1938 telling the newspaper, “the policies will remain the same as those of my grandfather. Many items and famous collections will not be for sale, although we are glad to have our many friends and customers come in and view them.”

*December 1938 ad for the Original Old Curio Store.*

John was becoming a well-known photographer and left the day-to-day operations of the Original Old Curio Store in the hands of various managers. Shortly after the end of World War II a partial collapse of the roof necessitated extensive renovations, and the newspaper article announcing the reopening, dated April 4, 1946, also described additional business ventures that John was associated with:

Adjoining the store and offices is the workshop of Santa Fe Silversmiths, Inc., of which [William C.] Euler is president, John Candelario, vice president and Wiltz Harrison, secretary/treasurer in charge of design and production. At present eight Indian and several Spanish-Americans are employed. The Native boys are learning to work in copper since if work is defective then the metal can easily be reused. Two of these are veterans who were in the war, and will be able to learn the craft in cooperation with the rehabilitation service. Of the Indians there are three Navajos, two San Juans, a Domingo, an Isleta and a Cochiti woman. In concentrating on hand-made jewelry as against machined output Euler said the firm is using the initials “S.F.S.” as a hallmark. Candelario’s is also a member of the United Indian Traders Association which last month announced its code of standards for hand made Navajo and Pueblo jewelry as a protection to the public.
Santa Fe New Mexican, April 4, 1946

John must have grown weary of the curio business, on May 21, 1947 he sold the Original Old Curio Store to local merchants Dan Taichert and Al Thorwaldsen. The shop and property have passed through a number of hands since 1947, but continues in operation as the Original Trading Post, now displaying a metal carreta on the roof.

Now, considering the hallmark on the back of Gloria Dollar’s pin that started this entire investigation. It is obvious that the cart depicted in the hallmark is the one used for Candelario’s Original Old Curio Shop. However, Jonathan Batkin, who has thoroughly researched the business records of J. S. Candelario, said via personal communication, that he “never found evidence that ‘Indian style’ jewelry was made while he [Candelario] ran the shop.” The style of the pin is typical of late 1930s Native American silver jewelry made for the tourist trade. That leads us to believe the mark was used between 1939-1946 during John Candelario’s ownership of the business. But, as always, our attribution is open to more research.

Much of the history about Jake Gold and J.S. Candelario is derived from Jonathan Batkin’s research, especially from his 2008 publication The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico, supplemented by personal communications and historic newspaper articles.

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.

In Defense of Barton Wright

There has been a tendency on the internet, specifically in FaceBook group pages, of American Indian art dealers and collectors referring to the late author and anthropologist Barton Wright as “Barton Wrong.” We can only assume this in reference to mistakes in his publications that have surfaced over the decades. Ironically, Barton would have been the first to admit there were errors in his books; even frankly acknowledging them in the introduction to Hallmarks of the Southwest:

Foremost among the points that must be kept in mind is the fact that this is not an exhaustive work but one, it is hoped, to which additional information may be added. Secondly the fact that there are errors in the data is fully recognized. However the impossibility of removing such errata is apparent when it may require a year to check out a single mark. The elimination of these mistakes requires the cooperation of craftsmen and those who work with them.

He not only understood, but recognized, that the research he conducted in the 1970s and 1980s would be built upon and corrected in the future. Yet, he continues to be criticized for those very errors.

The limitations in the scope and methodology of study available to Barton at the time of his research should be taken into consideration when judging the accuracy of his publications. Barton, and Margaret Wright in her own jewelry book Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing, did their research the hard way, before computers, the Internet or digital cameras. The work was long and painstaking back then.

It’s difficult for contemporary readers to comprehend the enormous task of constructing the original hallmark database in a pre-digital age. It’s also hard to think back to the time before the publication of any book containing hallmarks of Indian jewelry—as more than forty years have passed since the first printing of Hopi Silver—and how it would be nearly impossible today to reconstruct that data if it had not been recorded when it was. Where would the knowledge of southwestern Indian jewelry be now if it weren’t for the record of hallmarks that Barton compiled and published more than twenty-five years ago in Hallmarks of the Southwest? His work laid a foundation for further research and started dialogs that we all—collectors, dealers and academics—continue to this day.

It’s easy for people to criticize publications when they haven’t been through the rigors and sacrifices required to publish a book. We often think of a note that Barton sent us shortly before the publication of Hopi & Pueblo Tiles, where he stated, “I’m so pleased you are nearing your goal of a published book. I still think people who write books are masochists! And I suspect you will agree.” We are only now gaining a full appreciation for his use of the term masochist as we feel the occasional jab of criticism and controversy over our own hallmark book.

And it’s just not in the jewelry groups where people tend to disrespect Barton, it’s in the kachina groups as well. Why do kachina collectors feel the need to criticize his books? He only spent a lifetime studying, writing about and befriending the Hopi people. Some Hopis, such as Ross Josyesva, Jimmy Kewanwytewa’s stepson, believe that, “Barton knew more about Kachinas than most Hopis.” Barton’s Hopi Kachinas: The Complete Guide to Collecting Kachina Dolls, published in 1977, was the first book to focus on identifying and collecting kachina carvings. What reference would collectors and dealers use if it weren’t for this book and the others that Barton published in his lifetime?

It is not merely disrespectful, but arrogant and rude to refer to a scholar who was considered the foremost authority on Hopi culture and kachinas in his lifetime as “Barton Wrong,” especially now that he isn’t here to defend his work.

A Tribute

Barton Allen Wright was born in Bisbee, Arizona in 1920 to Roy and Anna Wright; Roy was a miner and the family moved often while Barton was young. They eventually settled in Mohave County where he graduated from Kingman High School. Barton acquired a vast knowledge of northwestern Arizona, and held a pilot’s license for the Colorado River; from 1940 to 1942 he and a friend ran the ferry at the site that would become Davis Dam.

During World War II Barton served in the Army, seeing combat on New Guinea and in the Philippines. After returning home he married Margaret Nickelson and they raised two children. Also after the war, he graduated from the University of Arizona, trained in archaeology and anthropology. His Masters Thesis was on Catclaw Cave on the Colorado River, a site he dug in 1949 with his new wife Margaret and two friends. He then began his career as an artist for Arizona State Museum.

In the early 1950s Barton worked as the archaeologist at Town Creek Indian Mound State Park in Mt. Gilead, North Carolina, and later for the Amerind Foundation at an excavation near Tumacacori. The Wrights moved to Flagstaff in 1955 when Barton became curator of the Museum of Northern Arizona. In 1977 the Museum of Man, in San Diego’s Balboa Park, recruited him as the Director of Scientific Research. Retirement beckoned and six years later Barton and Margaret moved to Phoenix where he continued to research and write about the southwest.

Among his many accomplishments was a body of published work of over twenty books and numerous articles that he wrote or contributed to, as well as serving on the Editorial Advisory Board of American Indian Art magazine from it’s inception in 1974 until his death in 2011.

Barton was a long time student of southwestern Indian history, especially interested in the Hopi people and their religion. He was a talented painter and graphic artist who illustrated many of his own publications as well as those of other authors. He was a patient and kind mentor, never once doubting that Pat and I would contribute to the field of American Indian art, lack of academic degrees notwithstanding.

*Thanks to Alan Ferg for much of the biographical info above, some of which was published in Catclaw Cave.

See previous blog post for a listing of published works by Barton Wright.

Charcoal sketch of pueblo water carrier by Barton Wright. — *Charcoal sketch of pueblo water carrier by Barton Wright*.

Oil painting, "The Quiet Plaza" by Barton Wright. — *Oil painting, “The Quiet Plaza” by Barton Wright*.

Drawing of Patusunqola, one of the four chiefs of direction, by Barton Wright. — *Drawing of Patusunqola, one of the four chiefs of direction, by Barton Wright (signed “Tizhme” as a private joke)*.

Scratchboard by Barton Wright. — *Scratchboard by Barton Wright*.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog December 27, 2015.

Reassessing Native American Hallmark Books

Note: a shorter version of the foregoing appeared as a two part article in the August 2014 and September 2014 issues of the Indian Trader newspaper.

Sometimes it’s important to take a step back and look at the events preceding a particular situation to understand how it came about. For hallmarks used by deceased American Indian silversmiths, it can be a road map to discovering where misattributions began. The following is a complete chronology of books that depict hallmarks used by American Indian silversmiths.

Over forty years ago, in December 1972, Margaret Wright’s groundbreaking book Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing was published by Northland Press. It included the first visual representations of hallmarks used by Hopi silversmiths, over 150 marks were depicted in the first edition. Margaret Wright’s research started in the archives of the Museum of Northern Arizona and took her to the Hopi mesas where she recorded on sheets of copper the hallmarks used by all of the living silversmiths she could find.

In 1975 Barbara and Ed Bell published volume one of Zuni: The Art and the People with volumes two and three following on its heels. These volumes each profiled approximately fifty silversmithing families then working at Zuni and either discussed or illustrated their hallmarks.

Mark Bahti’s excellent book Collecting Southwestern Native American Jewelry was released in 1980 and included twenty-two pages of hallmarks used by American Indian silversmiths, for the first time from more than a single tribal group, as well as a page of shop marks.

Also in 1980 Gordon Levy published Who’s Who in Zuni Jewelry profiling sixty-eight silversmiths working at the time.

In 1989 Barton Wright, in association with the Indian Arts and Crafts Association, published Hallmarks of the Southwest with 140 pages of biographical entries and illustrated hallmarks for American Indian artists, mainly silversmiths.

These five volumes laid the groundwork for the current understanding of American Indian jewelry hallmarks.

Margaret and Barton Wright’s books have both been revised and expanded over the years as more information became available.

A Second Edition of Hopi Silver was released in October 1973, with a Third Edition published April 1982, which included additional hallmarks; the first three editions of this book featured blue covers.

The Fourth Edition of Hopi Silver came out in 1982, ten years after the original. This expanded edition, with a new burgundy color cover, contained additional pages of hallmarks.

Then in 1998 came the Fifth Revised Edition of Hopi Silver, with a complete design makeover of the contents and a cover featuring Hopi silversmith Pierce Kewanwytewa. It not only included over 100 new hallmarks but also an index of hallmarks by type, and new images of never before published jewelry (full disclosure: some of that jewelry was from our personal collection).

After Northland Press folded the Fifth Edition of Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing was reissued in 2003 by University of New Mexico Press with a new cover.

Also notable in 2003 was the publication of Hopi Silver in Japan with a completely different cover but retaining the same information and interior photos as the English language edition.

Barton Wright’s Hallmarks of the Southwest was significantly expanded for the second edition in 2000, and this has become the industry standard for hallmark identification. It remains in print almost two decades later.

In 2011 Bille Hougart self-published The Little Book of Marks on Southwestern Silver: Silversmiths, Designers, Guilds & Traders. The inclusion of actual images of hallmarks makes this book stand out from Hallmarks of the Southwest. However, many of the errors that occurred in Wright’s book are carried on in this volume.

Hougart released a revised edition in 2014 with the publication of Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks.

Gregory and Angie Schaaf published the first volume of the American Indian Jewelry series in 2004 with updated volumes 2 and 3 appearing in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

American Indian Jewelry I: 1,200 Artist Biographies
American Indian Jewelry II: A-L: 1,800 Artist Biographies American Indian Jewelry III: M-Z

These are excellent resources for the work and hallmarks of living artists, but are unfortunately replete with errors for many of the deceased silversmiths; errors which, in our opinions, have muddied the waters. For instance, in the first volume they write that Navajo silversmith Mark Chee, “worked as a bench smith for Frank Patania,” at the Thunderbird Shop. However our research found no link between Chee and the Thunderbird Shop, though we could confirm employment in Santa Fe with Julius Gans at Southwest Arts & Crafts before WWII and with Packard’s at Chaparral Trading Post after the war.

This is not intended as a shameless plug, but omitting Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry: Artists, Traders, Guilds, and the Government might seem like an oversight on our part. This was the biggest project we have ever undertaken, and are grateful for the opportunity to make crucial corrections; we also hope the book opens the door to further research.

Before the publication of Hopi Silver in 1972 the individual artists received little attention from the buying public. Therefore it was generally believed that Indian jewelry wasn’t hallmarked before the 1970s. This mistaken perception persists to this day, as some collectors and dealers are adamant that if a piece is hallmarked it must have been made after the 1970s because they are convinced artists did not sign their work before that time.

Yet individual silversmiths began to sign their work in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Navajo Fred Peshlakai has often been cited as one of the first silversmiths to hallmark his work. But it has also been documented that Juan De Dios of Zuni Pueblo used a chisel to stamp his initials on the back of some pieces in the late 1920s. Also Grant Jenkins, a Hopi silversmith, signed some of his pieces during his short career from 1924 until his death in 1933. Perhaps prompted by their Anglo employers, many silversmiths who worked in urban areas began signing their work in the 1930s, using symbols or their initials as identifying marks.

Most of these early hallmarks were not documented at the time because jewelry was usually considered as little more than curio items. This is why the research done in the 1970s and 1980s is so valuable today; it would be nearly impossible to reconstruct the information that was gathered three and four decades ago. Not only did it call attention to individual silversmiths for the first time, it also laid a foundation for further research.

Barton Wright was well aware his book contained mistakes, as he stated in the introduction to his first edition of Hallmarks of the Southwest:

Foremost among the points that must be kept in mind is the fact that this is not an exhaustive work but one, it is hoped, to which additional information may be added. Secondly the fact that there are errors in the data is fully recognized. However the impossibility of removing such errata is apparent when it may require a year to check out a single mark. The elimination of these mistakes requires the cooperation of craftsmen and those who work with them.

It’s unfortunate that later publications did not heed Barton’s warning of the mistakes in his book, because as Mark Bahti has observed, “Over time some writers have simply repeated what earlier writers said about artists, and in doing so, they unwittingly, even carelessly, repeated incorrect information. Factual information about some artists that was generally known in the 1940s and 1950s, even the 1960s, began to dissipate in a wave of digital repetition of errors.”

Some of the more pervasive mistakes in Hallmarks of the Southwest were misconstruing Austin Wilson for Ike Wilson (we blame C.G. Wallace for starting that confusion), attributing Ambrose Roanhorse’s stick horse figure hallmark to Fred Peshlakai (with the legs erroneously forming the initials FP), and the unfortunate mash-up of Ambrose Roanhorse and Ambrose Lincoln into one individual. While Mark Bahti in his 1980 book correctly identified the hallmark of a capital A in a keystone figure to Ambrose Lincoln, Wright later misconstrued these two Navajo silversmiths as the same individual who used the A in a keystone mark. Roanhorse actually used a stick figure of a horse whose legs formed the initials AR. This error has caused the work of Ambrose Lincoln, often consisting of cast pieces with Zuni style inlay, to be sold and priced as if the master silversmith Ambrose Roanhorse had made it.

It’s not hard to imagine how these mistakes came about in a time before the Internet. In the 1970s and 1980s the only way to communicate with traders and artists was by writing letters and hoping for a reply, or by traveling to their business or residence. As Barton wrote in his introduction, quoted above, it may have required a year or more for verification of a single hallmark. It was difficult, mind-numbing research, and one incorrect attribution from a trader with a faulty memory could have been the only attribution available at the time.

These are the kinds of inaccuracies that have haunted Indian jewelry for a very long time. During the past few decades new information has been uncovered, in large part due to the availability of historic documents on the Internet, which have contributed to the broadening of the knowledge of hallmarks applied to Indian jewelry. For instance, it is now possible to properly identify the hallmark used by Navajo silversmith Ike Wilson from a 1942 newspaper article about his accidental death at the hands of his wife Katherine; and by an advertisement placed in a 1976 issue of American Indian Art Magazine that shows Katherine was still using a bow-and-arrow hallmark long after her husbands’ death.

However, there are more corrections still to be uncovered and many unknown hallmarks that need to be identified. We will never cease researching hallmarks, even though our magnum opus has been published, we hope to continue to contribute to the research in the field.

In the summer of 2016 the publication of the Third Edition of Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, by Bille Hougart, provided the most accurate, reliable and comprehensive hallmark identification guide at that time.

However it was surpassed in March 2019 by the publication of the Fourth Edition, which is even more the most comprehensive, accurate and reliable hallmark reference ever published. Read why the following blog: The Definitive Hallmark Reference Guide and Why You Should Own It.

Postscript: One of the reasons we made a chronology for ourselves of hallmark books is so we could comprehend how accurate each publication might be. For instance with the Zuni books published in the 1970s by the Bells and Levy’s book from 1980, the authors went right to the Zuni artists currently working and asked how they signed. This means they had primary sources and there is no refuting their research. The same for Margaret Wright’s Hopi Silver concerning the artists who were alive during her periods of research, she had primary sources. However, it gets tricky for any researcher of hallmarks when the silversmith is deceased by the time they start their research. Then the researcher must rely on the memory of the artists family members or traders/dealers or the database of museum collections to determine accuracy of hallmark attribution.

Originally published on Goodreads.com December 20,2014, with revisions reflecting current information.

Caveat Emptor

Definition of Caveat Emptor from the Cornell University Law School web site:

Latin for “let the buyer beware.” A doctrine that often places on buyers the burden to reasonably examine property before purchase and take responsibility for its condition. Especially applicable to items that are not covered under a strict warranty.

And even more applicable to vintage, pawn or antique American Indian jewelry.

There is a distressing recent trend in the vintage American Indian jewelry market – that of applying faked hallmarks of highly collectible silversmiths to jewelry of dubious quality. This trend started some years ago with the fabrication of jewelry in the style of Charles Loloma to which fraudulent hallmarks were applied. That nearly ruined the market for Loloma’s jewelry as dealers and collectors that had been burned by fakes were (and still are) leery to consider investing again. And with good reason, those fakes will haunt the market for decades to come.

Example of fraudulent Charles Loloma hallmark. — *Above: Example of fraudulent Charles Loloma hallmark*.

Now this practice has extended to the application of fraudulent hallmarks of other important silversmiths, such as Ike Wilson, Fred Peshlakai, Preston Monongye and Frank Patania, to jewelry of poor quality, and often made by Anglo silversmiths.

It should be noted that this isn’t the first time fake Indian jewelry has flooded the market. Starting in the early 1900s and continuing for decades, the mass-production of machine made Indian style jewelry made companies like H.H. Tammen, Arrow Novelty Company, Silver Products, Bell Trading Company and Maisel’s financially successful while the native artists struggled.

Those who remember the “Boom” of the 1970s are also familiar with the reproductions of traditional Navajo silver by hippie silversmiths from the Pagosa Springs, Colorado region and the proliferation of Anglo made Indian style jewelry. Few of these pieces were hallmarked so many have passed, and continue to pass, as “old pawn.”

Also memorable was the preponderance of counterfeit Navajo spoons, most often in the style featuring the profile of an Indian in a headdress on the handle or with the word NAVAJO etched in the bowl, after the publication of Navajo Spoons in 2001. While fake Hopi overlay, with contrived hallmarks, and fake Zuni inlay, copied from vintage issues of Arizona Highways magazine have been imported from international (off shore and south of the border) locations, and sold online and in disreputable shops for over a decade.

Previously buyers could be assured of the authenticity of a piece if it bore the hallmark of a recognized artist, and it didn’t require them to have a great deal of knowledge about the history of Indian jewelry to feel comfortable investing in high quality jewelry. But now it’s becoming common to see hallmarked jewelry misrepresented as that of some of the most respected and highly collectible silversmiths. This doesn’t even take into account the misattributions by uninformed, or overly optimistic sellers, a practice which is rampant on eBay and internet auction sites.

eBay is no help in these matters. As much lip service as they give to stopping counterfeiters from selling through their website, they make it inordinately difficult for buyers to report sellers of fakes. One shouldn’t need to jump through hoops, nor spend hours on the phone, to advise eBay that someone is profiting from selling counterfeits on their platform. Even more frustrating is that spurious listings are rarely ended by eBay even after they have been reported.

So how can collectors protect themselves when thousands of dollars can be at risk on a single bracelet? First, caution is the key to online transactions, if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. But most importantly, buyers should educate themselves and become familiar with the styles and workmanship of the silversmiths they wish to purchase. Faked jewelry will often not resemble the work of the masters in either style or quality. For collectors, working with a trusted dealer is essential in gaining the knowledge necessary to make informed purchases.

The artists whose hallmarks are currently being forged are deceased (convenient for the forgers), and their work commands top dollar. These artists did not become so respected, and their jewelry so highly valued, because they produced inferior work. These artists made jewelry of the highest quality. Contrary to opinions that even great silversmiths had bad days, substandard work is the hallmark of the amateur, inexperienced, or sloppy silversmith. Poor quality silverwork or low grade and treated stones should raise red flags right away that the artist was not a skilled silversmith.

The only way to combat the fakers is through knowledgeable buyers. Once everyone sees their forgeries for what they are, and their market dries up, then they will stop counterfeiting Indian jewelry and move on to something more profitable (and hopefully something you don’t collect).

Examples of recent forged hallmarks

NOT a hallmark used by Bernard Dawahoya.

NOT a hallmark used by Preston Monongye #1.

NOT a hallmark used by Preston Monongye #2.

NOT the shop mark used by Frank Patania or the Thunderbird Shop.

A poor attempt to fake the hallmark of Morris Robinson. — **Updated Dec 27, 2015** = Here’s a new one, a poor attempt to fake the hallmark of Morris Robinson.

**Updated May, 17, 2016** = This is definitely NOT the hallmark used by Hopi Harold Koruh.

By adding an H it make sit appear to be a hallmark used by an early Hopi silversmith…again, NOT Harold Koruh's hallmark. — And this is even more inventive, adding the H to make it appear to be a hallmark used by an early Hopi silversmith…again, NOT Harold Koruh’s hallmark.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog December 10, 2014.