Earl Numkina — Hopi Silversmith Hallmark
Earl Numkina taught himself to make silver, and he took the craft as far as the Chicago World's Fair, where he demonstrated silverwork. Margaret Nickelson Wright's Hopi Silver, a register of Hopi smiths and their hallmarks, records him as a member of the Greasewood clan from Moenkopi who began silverwork around 1920 and worked into the 1940s (Wright 2003, p. 75). He died in 1974.
Bille Hougart's Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks lists him as "Earl Numkina (1880s?-1974; Hopi)," working in overlay and active from the 1920s through the 1940s, and gives his mark as "Head with scarf" (Hougart 2022, p. 230).
His hallmark
Wright labels his mark "Man's Head Scarf." The printed drawing shows a head wrapped in a scarf, the tied ends hanging to one side (Wright 2003, p. 75).
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References
- Wright, Margaret Nickelson. Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing. Revised edition. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003.
- Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks: Silversmiths, Designers, Guilds and Traders. 5th edition. Washington, DC: BilleHougartBooks, 2022.
- 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.
- Schaaf, Gregory, with Angie Yan Schaaf. American Indian Jewelry I: 1,200 Artist Biographies, ca. 1800-present. American Indian Art Series, Vol. 5. Santa Fe: CIAC Press, 2003. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2003.
From the Library: Adair, The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths (1944)
1944 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1944, not today.
Adair (1944, p. 194) listed Earl Numkina among the Hopi silversmiths working at Moenkopi in 1938. [3]
From the Library: Schaaf, American Indian Jewelry I (2003)
2003 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2003, not today.
Schaaf (2003) recorded Earl Numkina as a teacher:
“Around 1930, Willie Coin learned how to make jewelry from his uncle, Earl Numkina.”
— Schaaf (2003), p. 118 [4]
Schaaf (2003, p. 118) added that the two were then said to be acting in Ramona, a well-known Indian play performed at San Gabriel Mission in Southern California. [4]
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.