Verna Tahe — Navajo Silversmith Hallmark
Verna Tahe's hallmark as photographed on an authenticated piece. © Turquoise Skies Inc.
Navajo · documented in the T.Skies hallmark library
Verna Tahe is a Navajo silversmith who has been active since the 1980s. Her work centers on bracelets, and she collaborates directly with her husband, Franklin Tahe — a documented partnership that places her within one of the larger Navajo silversmithing families documented in Hougart.
The Work
Tahe's primary form is the bracelet — the most central object in Navajo silverwork tradition, encompassing everything from stamp-worked cuffs to stone-set cluster pieces. The Hougart entry does not specify a sub-style beyond bracelets and polished designs, but the collaborative relationship with Franklin Tahe, whose own entry appears in the same Hougart block, suggests her output is linked stylistically to his. Franklin Tahe's entry is immediately adjacent in Hougart's hallmark registry, and the collaboration notation places Verna Tahe's work as part of a shared studio practice.
The Tahe Family
The Tahe name represents one of the more extensively documented silversmithing families in Hougart's registry. The following family members appear in the same Hougart block (p. 302): Franklin Tahe (bracelets; collaborates with Verna Tahe), Jerald Tahe (set stones, spiny oyster; mark: J T), Leander Tahe (stamp work, inside decorations; mark: L. Tahe in script), Michael Tahe (marks: M.TAHE; engraved or stamped), Milford Tahe (stamp work; mark: Hand made by Milford Tahe, in etched script), and Nora Tahe (heavy gauge bracelets, stamp work, bump-outs; mother of Elvira Bill; wife of Emerson Bill; mark: NORA). An additional unnamed Tahe (mark: T) appears in the same block. Nora Tahe was enriched separately as Nora Tahe-Bill in B13 of this directory project.
The mark
Marks: T (inside a mountain pictorial); TAHE. The mountain-pictorial mark echoes landscape iconography common in Southwest Navajo stamping. "TAHE" as a plain surname stamp is the shared family mark form; the pictorial variant distinguishes Verna's work within the family.
What is known
Hougart provides: Navajo, active since 1980s, bracelets, collaboration with husband Franklin Tahe, marks T (inside a mountain) and TAHE. No birth year or award history is recorded.
In Motion
Meet Verna Tahe on camera — this is T.Skies’ own footage, filmed firsthand. The feature below is “Verna & Franklin Tahe Navajo Silversmiths”.
Know more about Verna? Let us know.
References
- Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. (2022), p. 302. "Verna Tahe (Navajo). Active since 1980s. Bracelets. Collaborates with her husband Franklin Tahe. Marks: T (inside a mountain); TAHE"