Monty Claw — Navajo/Diné Silversmith
Hallmark documented in: Hougart. Rendered from the documented mark, not a photograph.
Monty Claw (born 1977) is a Navajo silversmith and multi-disciplinary artist — also a painter and feather artist — who works across multiple jewelry-making styles. The Hougart record documents his techniques as: fabricated work, cast work, hammer-stamp work, wire appliqué, channel inlay, some reversible jewelry, diamond settings, and fossilized ivory. He makes his own stamps, indicating a high degree of self-sufficiency and originality in his craft.
Claw is the father of fellow artist Elle Claw, establishing a generational thread within the family tradition. The Claw family name appears elsewhere in the Hougart corpus (Bertha Claw is documented; Jesse Claw is recorded in a separate batch entry).
The Mark
""M CLAW (may also have an owl image in honor of his great, great grandfather — a silversmith — whose name was Owl)" — Hougart, Bille. *Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks*, 5th ed. (2022)."
— Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. (2022).
— Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. (2022).
The primary mark is M CLAW. The corpus records that the mark may incorporate an owl image — a tribute to a great-great-grandfather named Owl who was himself a silversmith, grounding Claw's mark in multi-generational family heritage.
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- Hougart, Bille. *Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks*, 5th ed. Schiffer Publishing, 2022.
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.