Navajo, Hopi and Zuni silverwork is the hardest category of American silver to attribute, because most smiths worked independently and the standard hallmark references skip them almost completely. The Silver Marks library records 179 Native American silversmiths , each with a photographed mark, the town they worked in and their recorded working years.
How Native American marks differ
Most are personal marks rather than company stamps: initials, a pictorial device, a shop name, or a spelled-out surname. There is no assay system behind them, so there is no date letter to read. Attribution comes from matching the mark itself against a recorded example, which is exactly what a photographed reference library is for.
Sterling and the trade
Pieces are usually stamped STERLING or 925 where they are marked for standard at all. A great deal of genuine work carries only the smith's mark, and a great deal of tourist-trade material carries nothing.
Recorded Navajo and Native American silversmiths (179 in the library)
| Maker | Town | Active |
|---|---|---|
| ABRAHAM BEGAY | Scottsdale | ca 1980–1990 |
| ADAM & RITA TELLER [Navajo] | ca 1990–2000 | |
| ADAM FIERO [or FIERRO] [Navajo] | Albuquerque | ca 1980–1990 |
| ALBERT & JEANETTE CLEVELAND [Navajo] | Alamo | ca 1990–2000 |
| ALBERT JAKE [Navajo] | Prewitt | ca 1990–2000 |
| ALBERT JAMES BROWN [Navajo] | ca 1980–1990 | |
| ALBERT McCABE [Navajo] | ca 1975–1990 | |
| ALEX GALVIN [Navajo] | Flagstaff | ca 1960–1990 |
| ALFRED CLEVELAND [Navajo] | Alamo | ca 1980–1990 |
| ALFRED JOE [Navajo] | Winslow | ca 1970–1990 |
| ALICE QUAM [Zuni] | ca 1970–1990 | |
| ALLEN CHEE [Navajo] | ca 1980–1990 | |
| ALLEN KEE [Navajo Indian, cousin of Kenneth Begay] | Scottsdale | ca 1940–1980 |
| ALLISON LEE [Navajo] | Mexican Springs | ca 1977–2004 |
| ALONZO HUSTITO [b.1930 - d.1989, Zuni] | ca 1970–1980 | |
| ALTHEA LATOME [Navajo] | ca 1980–1990 | |
| ALTON Y. BEDONI [Navajo] | Keams Canyon | ca 1980–1990 |
| ALVIN LEE [Navajo] | Prewitt | ca 1990–2000 |
| AM [unknown] | ca 1940–1960 | |
| AMY QUANDELACY [Zuni] | ca 1974–1998 | |
| ANDREW JOHNSON [Navajo] | Shiprock | ca 1960–1980 |
| ANDY CADMAN [ Navajo] | ca 1990–2000 | |
| ANGELA LEE [Navajo] | Prewitt | ca 1974–1996 |
| ANNA BEGAY | Grants | ca 1980–1990 |
| ANNIE CHAPO [Navajo] | Prewitt | ca 1980–1990 |
| ANNIE WILLIE [Navajo] | and Sanders | ca 1970–1990 |
| ANTHONY SKEET [Navajo] | ca 1980–1990 | |
| ARNOLD BLACKGOAT [Navajo] | Gallup | ca 1990–2000 |
| ARNOLD GOODLUCK [Navajo] | ca 1970–1990 | |
| ARTHUR J. WILLIAMS [Navajo] | Mentmore | ca 1970–1990 |
| ARTHUR YAZZIE [Navajo] | Steamboat Springs | ca 1990–2000 |
| ASHBARRY GASPER [Zuni] | ca 1970–1990 | |
| ATKINSON TRADING POST - ANDY THOMAS [Navajo] | Scottsdale | ca 1970–1980 |
| AUGUSTINE LARGO [Navajo] | ca 1990–2000 | |
| BEA JOHNSON [Navajo] | Shiprock | ca 1990–2000 |
| BEN BEGAYE [Navajo] | ca 1970–1990 | |
| BEN CHEE [Navajo] | Manueliti | ca 1980–1990 |
| BEN SHILEY [Zuni] | Crownpoint | ca 1990–2000 |
| BEN YELLOWHORSE [Navajo] | Shiprock | ca 1980–1990 |
| BENALLY BROS [Navajo] | Gallup | ca 1980–1990 |
| BENJAMIN BECENTI [Navajo] | Crownpoint | ca 1980–1990 |
| BENNETT [Navajo, several Artists] | ca 1983–2024 | |
| BENNY RATION [Navajo] | Continental Divide | ca 1980–1990 |
| BENSON YAZZIE [Navajo] | Sanders | ca 1990–2000 |
| BERNAL NATEWA [Zuni] | ca 1975–2024 |
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