Atsidi Chon — Navajo/Diné Silversmith Hallmark
Navajo/Diné · documented in the T.Skies hallmark library
Atsidi Chon (Navajo: "Ugly Smith") was one of the most important early Navajo silversmiths, active in the 1870s. He is credited with introducing silversmithing to the Zuni people when he set up a shop in their pueblo during that decade. According to John Adair's The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths (1944), Roman Hubbell stated that Atsidi Chon was the first Navajo to make silver in the vicinity of Ganado. Adair further reports that Grey Moustache attributed to Atsidi Chon the distinction of being the first smith to set turquoise in silver — though Adair notes this testimony is not conclusive evidence and that a more careful phrasing would be that he was among the earliest to do so in the areas he worked.
Atsidi Chon's name places him in the generation of legendary pre-hallmark smiths who preceded the era of documented marks. He is associated with Atsidi Sani (Old Smith), the founding figure of Navajo silversmithing, and with early cross-pueblo transmission of the craft. Because Atsidi Chon worked before the hallmark era, no personal stamp is documented for him in the available source record.
Heritage note: The Hougart chronological table records: "c.1872 Atsidi Chon teaches silversmithing to Lanyade (Zuni)" — placing his role in the cross-pueblo transmission of the craft at approximately 1872.
The mark
No hallmark documented. Atsidi Chon predates the hallmark era; no personal stamp appears in the Hougart record.
Pre-hallmark context: Works attributable to Atsidi Chon, if any survive, would be identified through provenance and stylistic analysis rather than a stamped mark.
References
- Adair, John. The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths. University of Oklahoma Press, 1944. (Atsidi Chon discussion and context).
- Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. Washington, DC: BilleHougartBooks, 2022. Chronological table (entry: "c.1872 Atsidi Chon teaches silversmithing to Lanyade [Zuni]").
- Bahti, Mark. Silver + Stone: Profiles of American Indian Jewelers. Tucson: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2007. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2007.
- Bedinger, Margery. Indian Silver: Navajo and Pueblo Jewelers. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1973.
- Frank, Larry, with the assistance of Millard J. Holbrook II. Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest, 1868-1930. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1990. First published 1978 by New York Graphic Society. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1990.
- Turnbaugh, William A., and Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh. Indian Jewelry of the American Southwest. Foreword by Barry M. Goldwater. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2007 (copyright 1996 and 2007; first published 1988). ISBN 0-7643-2577-9. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2007.
- 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.
- Baxter, Paula A., with Allison Bird-Romero. Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry: A Guide to History, People, and Terms. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 2000. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2000.
- Woodward, Arthur. A Brief History of Navajo Silversmithing. With field notes by Richard Van Valkenburgh. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 14, 2d ed. Flagstaff: Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art, December 1946 (first edition 1938). Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1946.
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From the Library: Bahti, Silver + Stone: Profiles of American Indian Jewelers (2007)
2007 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2007, not today.
Writing in 2007, Mark Bahti summarized how silverwork reached Zuni:
“By 1872, a Navajo silversmith named Atsidi Chon, who made annual extended visits to Zuni to trade silver for livestock and other goods, had taught his Zuni host”
— Bahti (2007), p. 11 [1]
According to Bahti (2007, p. 19), Navajo jeweler Alex Beeshligaii (born 1953 in Ganado, Arizona) traced his family's silversmithing back through earlier generations to Atsidi Chon. [1]
From the Library: Bedinger, Indian Silver (1973)
1973 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1973, not today.
Bedinger (1973), drawing on Van Valkenburgh's notes as published by Woodward, credits Atsidi Chon with an early first:
“He is credited with making the first silver belt at Fort Defiance in 1868 or 1869, right after the return from the Bosque”
— Bedinger (1973), p. 19 [2]
According to Bedinger (1973, p. 19), buttons of the period were usually hollow, but Chon's work was characterized by heaviness; it was also stated that he learned from Mexicans around Santa Fe and on the Pecos River, and that he was the first Navajo to make silver near Ganado. [2]
Bedinger (1973) singles out a headstall credited to Chon, illustrated by H. P. Mera, as one of the few early pieces that can be definitely ascribed to a specific smith:
“The headstall is plain, heavy, and almost crude, yet well proportioned and with instinctive feel for design, the early attempt of a talented craftsman.”
— Bedinger (1973), p. 20 [2]
Bedinger (1973) places him geographically:
“Chon lived at Sunrise Springs near Klagetoh.”
— Bedinger (1973), p. 20 [2]
According to Bedinger (1973, p. 133), during his year at Zuni Atsidi Chon made bridles and belts, silver mountings for bowguards, and crosses copied from the copper ones Zuni smiths already made. He used stamping, which the Zuni copper and brass workers, who only incised and filed, did not know, and he could get a team of good horses for a concha belt. [2]
According to Bedinger (1973, p. 133), a year after arriving with only the horse he rode, Atsidi Chon went back to the Navajo Reservation driving many horses and sheep. Because he charged well and production was small, she thought he could not have left many ornaments behind. [2]
According to Bedinger (1973, p. 134), Atsidi Chon did not know how to set stones when he was at Zuni, and Lanyade said he saw no settings until many years later. [2]
From the Library: Frank, Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest (1990)
1990 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1990, not today.
Frank (1990, Fig. 79, p. 73) illustrated and dated a headstall attributed to him:
“This is an early silver headstall dating before 1880 and most probably as early as 1870, made by Atsidi Chon, one of the earliest Navajo silversmiths.”
— Frank (1990), p. 73 [3]
According to Frank (1990, p. 73, Fig. 79), the headstall was basically rocker-engraved, with minimal design and large areas of plain silver, and its naja was a simple, flat, wide crescent of the early style with plain pointed terminals. [3]
According to Frank (1990, p. 73, Fig. 79), Plains Indian headstalls in several museums closely resembled it, down to the tab-like projections below the conchas, and its conchas resembled Plains bridle conchas and hair plates. [3]
From the Library: Turnbaugh, Indian Jewelry of the American Southwest (2007)
2007 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2007, not today.
Turnbaugh (2007) credited Atsidi Chon with two Navajo firsts:
“Another pioneer in Navajo silverworking was Atsidi Chon, or "Ugly Smith." He probably was the first Navajo to create a horse bridle of silver (around 1870), and he also may have fashioned the first Navajo concha belt.”
— Turnbaugh (2007), p. 43 [4]
According to Turnbaugh (2007, p. 43), in 1880 either Atsidi Chon or an apprentice, Peshlakai Atsidi (Slender-Maker-of-Silver), was the first to set a turquoise stone in a silver bezel. [4]
According to Turnbaugh (2007, p. 53), Atsidi Chon traded often with the Zuni for livestock, and in about 1872 he taught a Zuni man named Lanyade to work silver. [4]
From the Library: Adair, The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths (1944)
1944 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1944, not today.
Grey Moustache, his brother-in-law, told Adair (1944) about the first setting he knew of:
“He was the first silversmith to set turquoise in silver. The first piece that he set was in a ring.”
— Adair (1944), p. 9 [5]
To young men who asked to learn, Grey Moustache told Adair (1944), Atsidi Chon answered:
“You have two eyes, you can see; watch me and you will learn how for yourselves.”
— Adair (1944), p. 9 [5]
Adair (1944) on Atsidi Chon and the Zuni:
“It was from him that the Zuñi first learned the art, when he set up a shop in their pueblo during the 1870's.”
— Adair (1944), p. 13 [5]
Adair's (1944) own judgment on the turquoise claim:
“It is fairly certain that Atsidi Chon was the first smith in this region to set the stone in silver.”
— Adair (1944), p. 14 [5]
According to Adair (1944, p. 42), a bridle made by Atsidi Chon was in the Laboratory of Anthropology; its simplicity suggested to Adair that it was very old, possibly dating as far back as 1875. [5]
According to Adair (1944, p. 122), the Navajo who taught Lanyade was the same Ugly Smith named in Adair's Navajo history; his clan was Standing House and his hogan was near Klagetoh. [5]
Lanyade told Adair (1944) why his teacher worked behind a closed door:
“He didn't want any of the Zuñi men to see him make silver, because if they watched him they would learn how, and then he wouldn't be able to sell them the silver that he made.”
— Adair (1944), p. 123 [5]
Lanyade credited Atsidi Chon, as Adair (1944) recorded, with a new tool at Zuni:
“This Navajo brought the first dies to Zuñi. None of us had seen dies before.”
— Adair (1944), p. 123 [5]
Lanyade told Adair (1944) how long his teacher stayed:
“Atsidi Chon lived here at Zuñi for a year.”
— Adair (1944), p. 123 [5]
According to Adair (1944, p. 123), Atsidi Chon probably came to Zuni in the early 1870s, since Lanyade said he arrived seven years before Frank Cushing reached the village in 1879. [5]
Lanyade told Adair (1944) that his teacher set no stones at Zuni:
“Atsidi Chon had never made any silver with sets while he was here.”
— Adair (1944), p. 124 [5]
From the Library: Baxter, Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry (2000)
2000 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2000, not today.
Baxter (2000) gave a date for his first settings:
“Chon is believed to have been the first—or one of the first—Navajo silversmiths to set turquoise in silver, circa 1878”
— Baxter (2000), p. 6 [6]
Baxter, writing in 2000, tied the look of his work to his tools:
“His silver work was heavy and crudely decorated because he had access only to scissors, hammers, and files.”
— Baxter (2000), p. 6 [6]
From the Library: Woodward, A Brief History of Navajo Silversmithing (1946)
1946 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1946, not today.
These are statements recorded by outside writers in 1855-1946, and Navajo elders' recollections as Richard Van Valkenburgh and Mary Russell F. Colton wrote them down; the Diné are the authority on their own history.
Chis-chillie, born near Black Mountain in 1855, told Richard Van Valkenburgh, as printed in Woodward (1946):
“The first silver belt was made by Atsidi Chon (Ugly Smith) at Fort Defiance in 1868 or 1869.”
— Woodward (1946), p. 71 [7]
He added, Woodward (1946):
“This man also made the first silver headstall.”
— Woodward (1946), p. 71 [7]
Van Valkenburgh's own list of early smiths, printed by Woodward (1946), describes Ugly Smith's materials:
“Made solid silver buttons with strips made from cartridge shells.”
— Woodward (1946), p. 64 [7]
And his tools, in the same entry, Woodward (1946):
“Old discarded shovels were used to melt metal and the only tools were scissors, hammers, and files.”
— Woodward (1946), p. 64 [7]
Field Notes by Mateo James
Field Notes by Mateo James: Bedinger dates Atsidi Chon's journey to Zuni to 1870, while the Hougart timeline on this page, and Bahti, put his teaching of Lanyade at about 1872. The two dates may describe a first visit and a later teaching relationship, or simply differ. I note both rather than choose.
This profile is maintained in support of Native American silversmiths and compiled from published references. See something inaccurate, or want to add to it? Contact us.
Frank reads Chon's headstall as clearly Plains in origin, down to the tabs below the conchas. Bedinger argues that silver bridles from Spanish and Mexican riders could have reached the Navajos two centuries earlier, and she grants the Plains route as well. They weigh the sources differently, and I show both.
The Turnbaughs give a single year, 1880, for the first turquoise set in a silver bezel, but they split the credit between Atsidi Chon and his apprentice Slender-Maker-of-Silver. Adair treated the Atsidi Chon claim as testimony rather than proof, and Chambless and Ryan say only that it happened sometime in the 1880s. So the books agree on the decade and disagree on the hand.
Name card shown; hallmark photo to come.
Bahti, quoted on this page, describes Atsidi Chon making annual extended visits to Zuni. In the account Lanyade gave Adair, his teacher came once, lived in Lanyade's house for a year, and went home driving the horses and sheep he had earned. Adair's text doesn't mention later visits, though it doesn't rule them out, so I show both accounts as printed.