Vernon Haskie — Navajo Silversmith
Vernon Haskie learned by looking. "I didn't have formal classes," he told Lois Essary Jacka for Navajo Jewelry: A Legacy of Silver and Stone. "I learned a lot by observation" (Jacka 1995, p. 96).
Jacka shows an award-winning silver belt of his that replicates ten Navajo rug styles, and a bola tie set with Morenci turquoise that won an award at the 1993 Gallup Intertribal Indian Ceremonial (Jacka 1995, p. 95).
Bille Hougart's Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks lists him as "Vernon C. Haskie (1968-; Navajo)," active since the late 1970s, working in "Contemporary; jewelry, hollowware; geometric designs; pictorials; set stones; coral insets; silver or gold with coral; channel inlay. Cast work with overlay," and records a "2012 SWAIA Best-in-Jewelry class award" (Hougart 2022, p. 136).
His hallmark
Hougart gives his marks as "V H (may be under a smoking pipe); Vernon Haskie" (Hougart 2022, p. 136).
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References
- Jacka, Lois Essary. Navajo Jewelry: A Legacy of Silver and Stone. Photographs by Jerry Jacka. Flagstaff: Northland Publishing, 1995.
- Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks: Silversmiths, Designers, Guilds and Traders. 5th edition. Washington, DC: BilleHougartBooks, 2022.
- 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.
From the Library: Schaaf, American Indian Jewelry I (2003)
2003 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2003, not today.
Schaaf (2003, p. 173) recorded Vernon Haskie as Navajo, born in 1968, living at Lukachukai and active from about 1978, a son of the Navajo jeweler Leonard Haskie, who learned by watching his parents, with Best of Class and Best of Division at Indian Market in 2000 and 2002 and a part in the 2001 collaborative concha belt made to benefit SWAIA. [3]
Vernon Haskie told Schaaf (2003):
“There is art all around me.”
— Schaaf (2003), p. 173 [3]
Schaaf's 2003 hallmark index gives VH to him alone:
“VH (Vernon Haskie)”
— Schaaf (2003), p. 169 [3]
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.