Tommy Moore — Navajo Silversmith Hallmark
Tommy Moore's hallmark as photographed on an authenticated piece. © Turquoise Skies Inc.
Navajo · documented in the T.Skies hallmark library
Tommy Moore is a Navajo silversmith whose work spans cluster settings, nugget sets, textured silver surfaces, bracelets, and buckles. He is documented in Hougart with a distinctive two-element mark that incorporates both text and imagery, and is notable for a collaborative co-stamp with another artist.
The Work
Moore's documented techniques position him in the classic Navajo tradition of stone-set and surface-decorated silverwork. Cluster work — groupings of multiple cut stones in concentric or radiating arrangements — is among the most recognized Navajo styles. Nugget sets pair raw or tumbled stones with silver mounts, favoring organic irregularity over lapidary precision. Textured surfaces are achieved through stamping, chasing, filing, or repoussé, producing decorative patterns on the silver ground. Bracelets and buckles are the primary forms: concho-style belts and cuffs represent two of the most commercially significant and technically demanding objects in Navajo silversmithing.
The mark
Mark: TOMMY MOORE STERLING, stamped with a mesa and moon pictorial element. The pictorial mark — a mesa (flat-topped geological formation) beneath a crescent or full moon — is a landscape image particular to the Southwest and signals Moore's regional identity. The combined text-and-image stamp is more complex than most Navajo hallmarks and suggests deliberate brand building.
A second mark is documented: one version of Moore's stamp is co-stamped with Rickey Rd[s] — likely a collaborator's mark added alongside Moore's own. Collaborative stamping, in which two smiths contribute their marks to a shared piece, was not uncommon in family or studio partnerships.
What is known
Hougart provides: Navajo, cluster work, nugget sets, textured surfaces, bracelets, buckles, mark reading TOMMY MOORE STERLING with mesa-and-moon pictorial, and a co-stamped variant with Rickey Rd[s]. The Rickey collaborator's full name is partially scan-corrupted. No birth year or active period is recorded.
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References
- Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. (2022), p. 214. "Tommy Moore (Navajo). Cluster work; nugget sets; textured surfaces; bracelets, buckles. Mark: TOMMY MOORE STERLING (with a mesa and moon); one mark is co-stamped with Rickey R[ds]."