Katherine Wilson — Navajo/Diné Silversmith Hallmark
Navajo/Diné · documented in the T.Skies hallmark library
Katherine Wilson (c.1907–1985; Navajo) was active from the 1930s through the 1980s. She was the wife of Ike Wilson (c.1900–1942), with whom she collaborated at the Kelsey Trading Company near Zuni, at C. G. Wallace, and probably elsewhere near Zuni. She also worked for Tanner's Indian Arts in Gallup (Hougart 2020, p. 104; Hougart 2022, p. 370).
Prior to Ike Wilson's death in 1942, she was known as Mrs. Ike Wilson. According to the Hougart record, she was an accomplished and award-winning silversmith. The extent to which she collaborated with her husband during his lifetime is uncertain, but she continued to use his bow-and-arrow stamp on her work after his death. Katherine Wilson was the sister of Charlie Bitsui. Her second husband, Sol Ondelacy, was also a silversmith; Hougart (2022, p. 233) records him as Zuni, born about 1903, deceased, and married to Katherine Wilson.
The Hougart record also notes that a corrected attribution first published in Messier (2014) showed that the bow-and-arrow stamp, long attributed to Ike Wilson, is correctly attributed to Ike and Katherine Wilson together.
The mark
The bow-and-arrow mark was originally attributed to Ike Wilson and later (per Messier, 2014) corrected to belong to Ike and Katherine Wilson. Katherine used the stamp on her own work following Ike's death.
References
- Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. Washington, DC: BilleHougartBooks, 2022.
- Messier, 2014 (attribution correction for the bow-and-arrow stamp, cited in Hougart 5e).
- 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.
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From the Library: Schaaf, American Indian Jewelry I (2003)
2003 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2003, not today.
Schaaf (2003, p. 326) recorded Katherine Wilson as Navajo, active about the 1930s to the 1950s in stampwork jewelry, whose first hallmark was a chisel-cut K.W., and who later used the bow and arrow that had been her husband's last stamp after his death. [1]
Schaaf (2003, p. 327) listed buckles and concha belts among her forms and recorded that she made spoons with her husband. [1]
Schaaf (2003, p. 317) listed two makers under the initials KW in the hallmark index: Kathryn Wallace and Katherine Wilson. [1]
Field Notes by Mateo James
I notice Schaaf's 2003 register makes Katherine Wilson the wife and collaborator of Austin Wilson, and says the bow and arrow she used after her husband's death had been his last stamp. Hougart, citing Messier's 2014 correction, names her husband as Ike Wilson, who died in 1942, and gives the bow and arrow to Ike and Katherine together. Schaaf also dates her work to the 1930s through the 1950s, where Hougart runs it into the 1980s. I show both as printed.
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Name card shown; hallmark photo to come.