Hallmarks on Native American Jewelry
Signatures are a way for artists to make a statement about their work, to claim the inspiration and skill for creating a piece of art. The public recognizes the value of a signed painting or sculpture. But is there a parallel type of “signature” for Native American jewelry? The answer is yes and no. Or perhaps more accurately, sometimes there is such a signature.
One type of signature found on jewelry is what is known as a hallmark. This is an impression made by holding a stamp punch on the silver and striking it with a hammer, leaving a mark that can be faint or deep. The mark can contain letters, pictures or symbols. An artist can also use an engraving pen to sign their name on a piece.
Not all jewelry has a hallmark. This is particularly true with vintage jewelry. Most early silversmiths did not place their stamp on their pieces. For many of them, their art was a part time job that helped bring in income along with their fields and their sheep. Those living close to larger cities often sold their own work at train stations and other public areas. Others used an intermediary, such as a trader or store owner. Having a shop which sold their pieces offered a steadier income for silversmiths, but at the expense of time to farm and raise sheep. Some shops did place marks on their work, often in the form of an image that related to the name of the business, but this was not a guarantee of authenticity. Shops could and did employ anyone, so the artist was not necessarily Native American.
The use of hallmarks changed after World War II with the advent of the Hopi and Navajo guilds which were set up to aid silversmiths and jewelry makers. These guilds encouraged the use of a hallmark as a form of signature for the work they sold. The hallmark was placed on the piece along with the guild stamp. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the guilds continued to encourage the artists to stamp their work.
During the 1970s that encouragement received a boost through collectors’ growing interest in knowing not just the tribe of the artist but their individual name. As a result of this newfound popularity for their specific work, many silversmiths began using a hallmark to differentiate their pieces from the work of others. The hallmarks began to distinguish the work of many of the popular artisans of vintage jewelry.
There are some drawbacks, however, in using hallmarks to determine authenticity or the work of a particular artist. Over the years, some hallmarks have fallen out of use and information regarding which artist used the mark has been lost. So the authenticity of these pieces cannot be validated.
Along with disuse, there is the problem of duplication. Artists have used their initials, or even a single letter as their signature hallmark. Naturally, the same letter has been used more than once. So there can be some difficulty in authenticating which artist signature it is. Sometimes the artist may change their hallmark during their career, or a family member may use the same mark on their work. This can create confusion as to which individual artist created the piece.
Judging a work’s creator or authenticity by a hallmark can be difficult due to these issues. It is never a good idea to depend on a mark alone to determine the background of a piece you’re interested in. Instead, the hallmark should be included among the provenance, the style of the piece, and the quality of the workmanship and the materials used in its creation. It is always a good idea to consult with a reputable dealer to ensure the piece of jewelry you purchase is an authentic piece of Native American jewelry created by one of the many talented silversmiths working at their craft.
From the T.Skies gallery: browse our Native American jewelry collection.
From the Library: Schiffer, Indian Jewelry on the Market (1996)
1996 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1996, not today.
Writing in 1996 for buyers of the jewelry he pictured, Peter N. Schiffer (1996) cautioned against leaning on marks:
“When purchasing jewelry styles of the type represented in this volume, the presence or lack of an artist’s mark should not significantly influence your decision. Many, many fantastic jewelry items are not marked in any way by their makers.”
— Schiffer (1996), p. 5 [1]
Schiffer (1996, p. 5) added that standardized marking systems were then a fairly recent attempt that the artists had not embraced, and advised judging a piece on its artistic merits rather than its marks. [1]
From the Library: Adair, The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths (1944)
1944 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1944, not today.
Writing in 1944, Adair dated the first government quality stamp on Navajo silver to 1938:
“Indian Arts and Crafts Board inaugurated the stamping of quality silver with the mark U.S. Navajo.”
— Adair (1944), p. 193 [5]
The same 1938 program, Adair (1944) recorded, covered Zuni silver:
“Indian Arts and Crafts Board inaugurated the stamping of quality silver with the mark U.S. Zuñi.”
— Adair (1944), p. 193 [5]
According to Adair (1944, p. 201), a few years before 1944 the Indian Arts and Crafts Board began stamping the better class of Navajo and Pueblo silver: a Board representative inspected the finished work and, if it met the standards of hand craftsmanship, stamped a small mark on the underside, U.S. NAVAJO or U.S. ZUNI, with a number for the trading post or Indian school where it was made. [5]
From the Library: Lund, Indian Jewelry: Fact and Fantasy (1976)
1976 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1976, not today.
Lund (1976) on what a signature could tell a buyer in her day:
“Much of the excellent jewelry produced in the Navajo and Zuni styles was not signed, and some very sub-standard work was.”
— Lund (1976), p. 114 [6]
According to Lund (1976, p. 114), Hopi smiths began a fairly consistent use of hallmarks in the 1930s, the practice became prevalent with the veterans' classes of 1949, and as of 1976 the Museum of Northern Arizona at Flagstaff kept an up-to-date collection of Hopi hallmarks. [6]
From the Library: June, Fred Harvey Jewelry 1900–1955 (2013)
2013 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2013, not today.
June (2013) gave a dating rule for unmarked and sterling-stamped Harvey-era pieces:
“It is significant to note that early period Fred Harvey jewelry will not bear a hallmark or content stamp. Similarly, "Sterling" stamps date such items as post-1932.”
— June (2013), p. 128 [7]
June (2013, p. 128) traced a sequence of stamps on Harvey-era jewelry: COIN or COIN SILVER on hybrid component pieces, and HM (Hand Made), later IHM (Indian Hand Made) and then IHMSS (Indian Hand Made Sterling Silver), the first of them appearing midway through what he called the Early Harvey Period (1900-1920). He wrote that such marks were there to inspire buyer confidence, and that individual artisans' hallmarks did not generally appear until the mid-1940s. [7]
Sources
- Schiffer, Peter N. Indian Jewelry on the Market. Text and photography by Peter N. Schiffer. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1996. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1996.
- http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/native-american-jewelry-author-mark-bahti-an-interview-with-collectors-weekly/
- https://nativeamericanjewelrytips.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/what-is-a-native-american-hallmark/
- https://www.palmstrading.com/how-do-you-know-its-authentic-jewelry/
- Adair, John. The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths. The Civilization of the American Indian Series. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1944. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1944.
- Lund, Marsha Mayer. Indian Jewelry: Fact and Fantasy. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1976. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1976.
- June, Dennis. Fred Harvey Jewelry 1900–1955. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2013. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2013.
