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