Benson Manygoats

Biography by Mateo James

Documented sterling silver hallmark of Benson Manygoats, Navajo silversmith - Native American maker's mark

Hallmark documented in: Schaaf (1200 Bios). Rendered from the documented mark, not a photograph.

Overview

Benson Manygoats (born 1967) is a Navajo artist making fabricated jewelry — cobblestone and channel inlay in silver and gold, nugget sets and bracelets. He is a multiple award winner, including a 2016 SWAIA Best-in-Class award.

A note on the name: our scan prints the surname split as 'Man oats', but the mark list — MANYGOATS, B MANYGOATS, and MANYGOATS with the image of a goat — together with the adjacent Manygoats family entries fixes the printed name as Manygoats, and that is how we record him.

The Mark

"Benson Man[y]goats (1967-; Navajo). Fabricated jewelry; cobblestone and channel inlay; silver, gold; nugget sets; bracelets. Multiple award winner. 2016 SWAIA Best-in-Class award. Marks: MANYGOATS; B MANYGOATS; MANYGOATS (plus image of a goat); BENSON [placement garbled in our scan]"
— Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. (2022).

The mark as documented in the Hougart corpus: MANYGOATS; B MANYGOATS; MANYGOATS (plus image of a goat); a BENSON form appears in a garbled stretch of our scan.

References

  • Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. Schiffer Publishing, 2022.

Know more about this artist? Contact T.Skies.

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.