Peter Gasper — Zuni Silversmith

Peter Gasper makes fetish necklaces with his wife, Dinah Gasper, a fetish carver. Bille Hougart's Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks lists him as "Peter Gasper (1938-; Zuni)," active since the 1970s, records that he "Taught silver smithing at ZCCA," and calls him a "Multiple award winner." Hougart lists Dinah Gasper as a fetish carver, active since the 1970s, who co-stamps with him (Hougart 2022, p. 126).

Theda and Michael Bassman's Zuni Jewelry shows the couple's work at length: a two-strand pink coral fetish necklace of sixty squirrels, frogs, turtles, birds, owls, bears and foxes on pink coral shell heishi, 1991, and a three-strand fossilized ivory fetish necklace of Dinah's own, 1986 (Bassman and Bassman 2006, p. 21). A three-strand Mediterranean coral fetish necklace with 14-karat gold fittings, made by Dinah and Peter Gasper with Andy Lee Kirk in 1991, took Best of Category for all Stone or Shell and was a First Prize winner (Bassman and Bassman 2006, p. 22). Joe Dan and Joe P. Lowry's Turquoise shows a frog fetish by the couple (Lowry 2010, p. 175).

Hougart records that the Gaspers also carved and set stones for other smiths, among them Calvin Martinez and Gary Reeves (Hougart 2022, pp. 126, 207, 266).

His hallmark

Hougart gives the mark he shares with Dinah as Peter Dinah, the two names stacked, with a large G (Hougart 2022, p. 126). Neither has a separate mark in the book, so the stamp cannot tell you which of the two made a piece.