Zuni Hummingbird Design Jewelry by Dickie Quandelacy

Dickie Quandelacy Set

About the Hummingbird Design

The hummingbird design is a curved and mirrored inlay with an open center suggesting the rapidly beating wings of the hummingbird creating movement. This design originated in Zuni jewelry with silversmith Ellen Quandelacy (1924-2002), who might have been inspired by the rainbird design on old Zuni pottery. Ellen passed the pattern to her son Dickie who in turn taught it to his wife Ellen (Wesely) Quandelacy. Other Zuni artisans have since used this design.

To read about Coral, go to my article Native American Jewelry Materials – Coral

Paula

Glittering World – Navajo Jewelry of the Yazzie Family by Lois Sherr Dubin

The breathtaking, large and very detailed photographs is this coffee table style book make you feel like you are almost holding the jewelry. The sumptuous pieces are captivating. I’ve spent hours paging back and forth through the beautiful work, drooling over the buckles.

 

9 3/4″ x 9 3/4″
Hardbound with dust jacket
272 pages
Full color

There are many outstanding Yazzie jewelers. Because the subtitle uses the phrase “Yazzie Family” I expected more Yazzie artists to be included. However, this book mainly focuses on the life and work of brothers Lee and Raymond Yazzie. There is a good deal of text about the family, design, techniques and materials.

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It devotes a few pages to the Yazzie Sisters who make a variety of necklaces and bracelets and sterling silver Navajo Pearl necklaces.

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This 1970s Lee Yazzie buckle is part of my personal collection.

 

2014
National Museum of the American Indian
Smithsonian Institution

Glittering World
Navajo Jewelry of the Yazzie Family
by Lois Sherr Dubin

Paula

Navajo Artist Mary Livingston

Navajo artist Mary Livingston has been actively making jewelry since the 1970s.

She specializes in mosaic inlay and carved stone pieces.

Her hallmark is either ML or MARY LIVINGSTON. Below are two examples of her hallmark.

Here is a beautiful piece of her work, a turquoise eagle collar.

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Another one-of-a-kind creation made by Mary Livingston is this enormous carved turquoise chief belt buckle.

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Paula

Zuni Artist Don Dewa

Zuni artist Don Dewa has been actively making his spectacular inlay jewelry since the 1970s.

He has used several hallmarks:
DON C DEWA
DON DEWA ZUNI NM
DON DEWA CUSTOM MADE JEWELRY ZUNI NM STERLING with a sunface (see example below)

 

When he he collaborates with his wife, Velma E. Dewa, they sign D & V DEWA

He is noted for his beautiful inlay and most notably his spinner bracelets. A spinner, in this case, is a rotating sunface that has different inlay on each side.  See the photos.

Don Dewa spinner pendant

Don Dewa spinner bracelet

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Click to see a spinner bracelet by Don Dewa

 

From American Indian Jewelry by Gregory Schaaf

Paula

Interesting Vintage Price Lists found inside Zuni The Art and the People Sets

 Zuni the Art and the People is a popular and valuable set of reference books on Zuni jewelry. The 3 volumes are in full color and feature many Zuni artists.

Zuni The Art and the People – 3 Volume Set

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Over the years we have sold a number of these vintage book sets through our store and have often discovered paperwork, receipts and more tucked inside. In a few cases, southwest store owners have made up retail price lists to go along with the items in the book, presumably to show offerings to potential customers like a catalog. Following are two such lists. I have blocked out the store names. You can follow along with the page numbers, item descriptions and comments. You might find that the page numbers could be slightly off from your copies of the books as different printings vary a little but you can use the descriptions to figure out which items they are referring to. Enjoy !

Price List A is from 1981

Retail Prices from 1981 Volume 1 Zuni The Art and the People

Retail Prices from 1981 Volume 2 Zuni the Art and the People

Retail Prices from 1981 Volume 3 Zuni the Art and the People

Price List B – year unknown

Vintage Retail Price List Zuni the Art and the People Volume 1

Vintage Retail Price List Zuni the Art and the People Volume 1 & 2

Vintage Retail Price List Zuni the Art and the People Volume 2

Vintage Retail Price List Zuni the Art and the People Volume 3

 

 

Paula

 

Zuni Artists Martin and Esther Panteah

Martin and Esther Panteah have worked together on their jewelry since 1973. Martin does the stone work and both Martin and Esther work on the silver. They specialize in both stone-on-stone inlay and channel inlay.

Their hallmark is M T PANTEAH and ZUNI

Here is an example of their work. This exquisite Antelope Kachina bracelet was likely made in the 1970s. It is 1 3/4″ wide all around and weighs 117 grams. Made from Mother of Pearl, Turquoise, Coral, Acoma Jet and sterling silver. The rounded edges are a signature finishing technique of Martin’s and a very difficult one to do so well.

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From Zuni the Art and the People

From Who’s Who in Zuni Jewelry

Paula

Old Bee Stamp on Vintage Navajo Jewelry

This bracelet, likely from 1920s- 1940s (per some learned colleagues) has a distinctive bee stamp on it.

This stamp has been linked to some very old jewelry but so far I have not been able to pin down who might have made this stamp or who used it.

If you have any information on the bee stamp, I’d love to know.

Thanks, Paula

Stop Counterfeiters and Fraudsters on eBay with the VRO Program

Have you spotted fraudulent listings on eBay? You might find this information interesting and useful. Especially if you are an artist whose work is being copied and the seller is using your name or hallmark to describe and sell the item, you need to read this.

It has been frequently brought to our attention that sellers on eBay have used our copyrighted photos or information from our website to fraudulently list items for sale.

Horsekeeping LLC

At first I just contacted the seller, giving him or her the benefit of the doubt, figuring some people just don’t KNOW what they are doing.

Well, I’d say in about 10% of the cases, the seller, somewhat embarrassed at being caught in the act, apologized profusely, removed our copyrighted items and changed their listing.

Another 10% wrote back with rude remarks and denial and didn’t change anything.

The other 80% just didn’t reply at all.

So then my MO changed to using the Report Item link which is located on the eBay item page way over to the right above Item Description.

Although that made me feel like I was doing something official, that process usually yielded no result in my personal experience.  Maybe one or two instances over the years resulted in a removal of the item.

Then I discovered the Verified Rights Owner Program on eBay.

Basically this program is designed to eliminate these infringements:

Trademark infringement
A trademark is a unique sign (such as a name, word, phrase, logo, or symbol) that a company uses to identify its products or services. For example, eBay is the name of our company, but it’s also a trademark used on our site and on various eBay products. Trademark laws are primarily designed to protect consumers from confusing one company’s goods or services with those of another.

Replica and counterfeit
It’s illegal to sell counterfeits, fakes, or replicas of brand-name items. We don’t allow these items to be sold on eBay.

Example

• Items that weren’t made by the manufacturer but the items are labeled with the brand, like a purse that has a Burberry label on it but wasn’t made by Burberry.

Brand name misuse
You may not use brand names in your listing if the product isn’t manufactured by or compatible with that brand. You may use “compatible with,” “fits,” or “for” before a brand name if the item you are describing is specifically designed to be compatible with the products of that brand.

Examples

• A generic case made for an iPhone uses the brand name “Apple”.
• Listing an adidas shoe and adding the brand name “Nike”.

Logo misuse
If you include logos in your listing descriptions, make sure you’re authorized to use them. Using someone’s logo without permission is a violation of trademark laws and can be misleading for buyers. Creating a logo that’s similar to someone else’s can also be a trademark infringement.

Example

• Listing a branded item and including logos in your description or images without authorization.

 

Every time I have used the VRO Program to report an item, not only is the item removed but the seller has been removed in some cases as well.

This is an effective tool to get fraudulent items and sellers removed from eBay. I haven’t heard much talk about it on Facebook or groups, so I wanted to be sure that artists and eBay watchers are aware of it.

Paula

Native American Reference Library at Horsekeeping LLC

There are many good reference books on Native American topics that prove valuable when researching items in the estate lots that come into our store. Starting with a handful of essential hallmark books, our reference library has grown !

Below my signature at the end of this post is a list of many (but not all) of the books in our reference library.

Some we reach for every day, others only when a unique question comes up.

I reach for this 3 Volume set regularly – Zuni, The Art and the People

I’ve organized the books in my list by categories so that I can find them easier when I need them – that’s what the headings and abbreviations refer to.

As usual, comments are welcome. If you post in the comment section at the end of this article, other readers will be able to see what you have to say. Let us know if you have read any of these books – which are your favorites, which might have misinformation, which ones are trusted.

I am continually on the lookout for books to add to the reference library and that results in me (more often than I’d like to admit) purchasing the same book twice! Have you ever done that? That’s the main reason I made up this book list  – so I can see at a glance what is in the library.

Once a year I go through the entire library to find the duplicates. Click on the book below to go to the page of extra books we have for sale right now.

Used Native American books for sale

 

Paula

HORSEKEEPING LLC – NATIVE AMERICAN REFERENCE BOOK LIST

ARTS AND CRAFTS

AC Guide to American Folk Art of the Southwest – Lamb

AC Native North American Art – Berlo

AC Navajo Arts and Crafts – Schiffer

AC North American Indian Artifacts – Hothem

AC Southwest Art Defined – Booker

FETISH

F Guide to Zuni Fetishes and Carvings – Lamb

F Guide to Zuni Fetishes and Carvings Vol 2 – McManis

F Native American Fetishes – Whittle

F Spirit in the Stone – Bahti

F Zuni Fetish Carvers McManis

F Zuni Fetish Carvers of the 1970s McManis

F Zuni Fetish Carvings Finkelstein

F Zuni Fetishes 1966 – Cushing

F Zuni Fetishes 1999 – Cushing

F Zuni Fetishes and Carvings First Edition 2004 – McManis

F Zuni Fetishes and Carvings Second Edition 2010 – McManis

F Zuni Fetishes– Bennett

F Zuni Fetishism – Kirk

FRED HARVEY

FH Fred Harvey – Armstrong

FH Fred Harvey Jewelry – June

FH Inventing the Southwest Fred Harvey Company – Howard

FH Native American Curio Trade in NM Battin

HALLMARKS

HM American Indian Jewelry I II and III Schaaf

HM Hallmarks of the Southwest – Wright

HM Hopi Silver – Wright

HM Little Book of Marks on Southwestern Silver – Hougart

HM Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks – Hougart

HM Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry – Messier

HOPI

H Book of the Hopi – Waters

H Hopi Following the Path of Peace

H Loloma

H Spider Woman Stories – Mullett

H Truth of a Hopi – Nequatewa

KACHINA

K Hopi Kachina Dolls – Colton

K Hopi Kachinas – Wright

MEXICAN

M Mexican Jewelry – Davis and Peck

M Mexican Silver & Hallmarks – Hougart

M Mexican Silver – Morrul and Berk

NATIVE AMERICAN JEWELRY

NAJ Beesh Ligaii in Balance The Besser Collection – Torres-Nez

NAJ Collecting Southwest Native American Jewelry – Bahti

NAJ Evolving Southwest Indian Jewelry – Schiffer

NAJ Fine Indian Jewelry of the Southwest Millicent Rogers Museum Collection – Tisdale

NAJ Generations The Helen Cox Kersting Collection – Nottage

NAJ Guide to Indian Jewelry of the Southwest – Simpson

NAJ How to Invest in Indian Jewelry – Gillespie

NAJ Indian Jewelry Fact and Fantasy – Lund

NAJ Indian Jewelry of the American Southwest – Turnbaugh

NAJ Indian Jewelry on the Market – Schiffer

NAJ Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest 1968-1930 – Frank

NAJ Jewelry by Southwest American Indians – Schiffer

NAJ Masterworks and Eccentricities The Druckman Collection – Bauver

NAJ Native American Art 2018 Magazine

NAJ Native American Bolo Ties – Pardue

NAJ Navajo Jewelry A Legacy of Silver and Stone – Jacka

NAJ Navajo Silversmith Fred Peshlakai: His Life & Art

NAJ Silver and Stone – Bahti

NAJ Skystone and Silver – Rosnek

NAJ Southwest Indian Silver from the Doneghy Collection – Lincoln

NAJ Southwest Silver Jewelry – Baxter

NAJ Southwestern Indian Bracelets – Baxter

NAJ Southwestern Indian Jewelry 1992 – Cirillo

NAJ Southwestern Indian Jewelry 2008 – Cirillo

NAJ Southwestern Indian Rings – Baxter

NAJ What You Should Know about Authentic Indian Jewelry – Conroy

NAVAJO

NAV Navajo English Dictionary – Morgan

NAV Navajo Indian Myths – O’Bryan

NAV Navajo Taboos – Bulow

NAV Navajo Walking in Beauty

NAV The book of the Navajo – Locke

NAV The Navaho – Kluckhohn and Leighton

NAV The Navaho – Watkins

PLAINS

PL American Buffalo – Rinella

PL Black Elk & Flaming Rainbow – Neihardt

PL Fools Crow – Mails

PL Healing Power of Horses – Lessons from the Lakota – Baker

PL Indians of the Plains – Lowie

PL Keep Going – Marshall III

PL Lakota Belief and Ritual – Walker

PL Lakota Seeking the Great Spirit

PL Lame Deer Seeker of Visions – Lame Deer and Erdoes

PL Madonna Swan – St. Pierre

PL Offering Smoke – Paper

PL Red Horse Owner’s Winter Count – Karol

PL Stories of the Sioux – Standing Bear

PL The Journey of Crazy Horse – Marshall III

PL The Sacred Pipe Black Elk – Brown

RUGS

R Guide to Navajo Rugs – Lamb

R Guide to Navajo Weaving – McManis

R Navajo Weavings – McManis

R Weaving a Navajo Blanket – Reichard

REFERENCE

REF Antique Jewelry Warman

REF Dictionary of the American Indian

REF Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry – Baxter

REF Field Guide to Southwest Indian Arts and Crafts – Page

REF Idiots Guide to NA History

REF Indian Jewelry of the Prehistoric Southwest – Jacka and Hammack

REF Jewelry and Gem Buying Guide Matlins

REF Jewelry of the Prehistoric Southwest – Jernigan

REF Jewelry Warman

REF Native American History – Nies

REF North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment – Dubin

REF Rocks, Gems and Mineral

REF The Earth Shall Weep – Wilson

REF Warman’s Jewelry Price Guide

SILVER

S Indian Jewelry Making Vol 1 and 2 – Branson

S Indian Silver – Navajo and Pueblo Jewelry – Bedinger

S Indian Silver Vol 2 – King

S Indian Silversmithing – Hunt

S Indian Silverwork of the Southwest, Illustrated Volume One and 2 booklets – Mera

S Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths – Adair

S Navajo Silver – Hegemann

S Navajo Silver , a brief history of Navajo Silversmithing– Woodward

SYMBOLS

SYM American Indian Design and Decoration – Appleton

SYM Field Guide to Rock Art Symbols Patterson

SYM Heart of the Dragonfly Birt

SYM Picture Writing of the American Indians 1 & 2

TURQUOISE

T Arizona Highways Turquoise Blue Book

T Jewel of the Southwest – Turquoise – Osburn

T Turquois Pogue

T Turquoise and the Indian – Bennett

T Turquoise Jewelry – Schiffer

T Turquoise Jewelry of the Indians of the Southwest – Bennett

T Turquoise Mines Mineral and Wearable Art – Block

T Turquoise The Gem of the Century – Branson

T Turquoise The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone – Lowry

T Turquoise Trail – Karasik

T Turquoise Unearthed – Lowry

TRADITIONS, MYTHS, and RELIGION

T&M American Indain Ceremonies

T&M American Indian Stories – Zitkala-Sa

T&M Animal Speak – Andrews

T&M Encyclopedia of Native American Healing – Lyon

T&M Hisoric Books Detailing Native American Indian Religions – DVD

T&M Indian Legends – Clark

T&M Native American Dance

T&M Native American Mythology Gill & Sullivan

T&M Native American Myths and Legends Taylor

T&M Native American Traditions – Versluis

T&M North American Indian Mythology Burland

T&M Southwestern Indian Ceremonials

T&M The Sons of the Wind – Dooling

T&M The Spirit of Indian Women – Fitzgerald

T&M The Voices of the Winds – Edmonds and Clark

T&M The Wind is My Mother – Bear Heart

T&M The Wisdom of the Native Americans – Nerburn

TRIBES

TR America’s Indian Background – Walker

TR American Indians of the Southwest Dutton

TR Enclyclopedia of Native American Tribes – Waldman

TR Encyclopedia of Native American Indians – Hoxie

TR Encyclopedia of North American Indians – Ciment

TR Native American The Pueblos Erdoes

TR The North American Indian Images – Curtis DVD

TR The Story of the Cherokee People – Underwood

ZUNI

Z Figural Designs in Zuni Jewelry – Sei

Z Hopi Bird and Sunface in Zuni Jewelry – Sei

Z Kachinas and Ceremonial Dancers in Zuni Jewelry – Sei

Z Knifewing and Rainbow Man in Zuni Jewelry – Sei

Z Whos Who in Zuni Jewelry –

Z Zuni Jewelry – 3^rd edition – Bassman

Z Zuni, A Village of Silversmiths – Ostler

Z Zuni, the Art and the People, Vol 1, 2 3 – Bell

Z Zunis, The by Zunis

 

MORE BOOKS SUGGESTED BY READERS……..

Ray Manley’s Portraits and Turquoise of Southwest Indians” with text by Clara Lee Tanner.

Native American Jewelry Authentication Resources – Buyer Beware

This necklace fooled a lot of people, including the savvy collector who bought it years ago as well as several dealers in the business for over 40 years. It is not Native American made – it was made in the Philippines.

 

BUYERS

If you are thinking of purchasing a piece of vintage or contemporary jewelry and you assume or are told by the seller that it is Native American made, before you plunk down the cash, I encourage you to read through this article to find ways to authenticate the piece.

ebay has some very good sellers and can be a great place to shop but it is also loaded with counterfeit items and misrepresented pieces. BUYER BEWARE !

This is especially important if you are considering purchasing on eBay, etsy or one of the Native American warehouse type sites. While there are many educated, experienced, honest sellers on the internet, there are also those who either  A. don’t know or B. intentionally misrepresent. The latter type of seller really confuses things for everybody. So buying Native American jewelry on eBay or other auction sites is definitely a case of Buyer Beware.

SELLERS

I know there are many long-term, experienced and honest sellers of Native American jewelry around. So this information is not directed at you. The intent is to help new and inexperienced sellers of Native American jewelry.

If you are new to the Native American jewelry arena, know that if you are describing a piece as Native American made, you have a legal responsibility to be sure that it is authentic. These resources are provided to both serve your customers AND protect you as the seller.

Your reputation depends on satisfied customers and honest transactions. It doesn’t take long for word to get around if you are trying to pull a fast one to make a bigger sale through misrepresentation. And using “I didn’t know” doesn’t cut it. As a seller you are legally obligated to accurately represent the authenticity of an item. If you don’t know, take a deep breath, say you know don’t know and most importantly, don’t call it Native American.

NATIVE AMERICAN MADE OR NATIVE AMERICAN STYLE?

There is

A. authentic Native American made jewelry

B. counterfeit jewelry sold as Native American made (see next section)

C. Native American style jewelry that is not Native American made.

The latter type is also sometimes referred to as southwest jewelry since it copies many of the materials and designs of the southwest tribes.

I got into a funny back and forth discussion once with a customer who was trying to sell us her jewelry collection, mostly non NA made. They were nice sterling silver inlay pieces very typical of the southwest style. I said we weren’t interested as they were not authentic NA made. But she kept insisting that they were “real”, I think referring to the materials. Yes, real in the sense that you can touch and see the sterling and stone but they still were not made by NA hands, so they were not authentic NA made.

A perfect example of this type of “real” southwest jewelry (but not authentic Native American made jewelry) is Carolyn Pollack jewelry. Some of the pieces from that company are sterling silver and some also have real stones. People that like it love it.

Carolyn Pollack Southwest Style -Sterling Silver-YES …………………….. Real Turquoise – PROBABLY NOT ……………………………………………Pretty- YES ………………………………………………………………………….. Native American made – NO

There is a place for all type of items in the marketplace – as long as they are described accurately. Call a spade a spade.  You can read a little bit more about southwest style jewelry in my article “Info please on this pendant necklace with a crescent moon and a R”.

To qualify as Native American made, the piece must be made by a recognized, enrolled member of a Native American tribe.

Sterling Silver Wedding Basket Pendant by Navajo artist R.H. Begay

Read about the rules and regulations at the website of The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 where it states that “it is illegal to offer or display for sale, or sell any art or craft product in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian tribe.”

Below is an excellent article about a historic authentication group UITA.

Quest for Authenticity – The United Indian Traders Association: Better Quality, Greater Sales by Bille Hougart

FAKE NATIVE AMERICAN JEWELRY

There is a lot of counterfeit jewelry around – it is being sold as Native American made but is NOT. This is a distressing fact of life. What is even sadder is that the counterfeiters even copy the known hallmarks of legitimate NA artists, cutting sharply into the profits of the authentic artists and making it hard for even seasoned retailers to know the difference. Grrrrrrrr………..

Some of the counterfeit jewelry seized in a recent raid

Much of this type of counterfeit jewelry comes from overseas and is blatantly sold right in the heart of Indian country such as Gallup, Santa Fe, Albuquerque and the like.

To read about this problem and the latest sting operation, read  Biggest Fake Native American Art Conspiracy Revealed

HALLMARKS

 

 

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Hallmarks are a great aid in linking an artist to a work but they are only one piece of the puzzle. It is just as important to know materials and design style of an artist. And due to the counterfeiting of the hallmarks themselves, some hallmarks are faked!

Authentic Native American items may or may not be hallmarked. Hallmarks are much more common since the 1970s but even today, many artists do not sign their work. This is especially true of stone necklaces, Navajo Pearls and earrings where there isn’t a convenient place to put a a hallmark. Hallmark tags are sometimes used on necklaces.

For more on hallmarks, read my articles:

What is a Native American Hallmark?

Native American Hallmark Books

Book Review – Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks by Bille Hougart

Here is another great article from a favorite blogger of mine Kim Messier Reassessing Native American Hallmark Books

There is also an extensive hallmark list on this website

BOOKS

Besides hallmark books, there are many other books and published materials related to vintage and contemporary Native American jewelry. Look through the list of books in our reference library by clicking the link below:

Native American Reference Library at Horsekeeping LLC

BUY DIRECT FROM THE ARTIST OR FROM TRUSTED SELLERS

The best way to know you are buying authentic items, is to buy directly from the artist or from trusted galleries and sellers.

Horsekeeping LLC

Most artists are not set up to sell retail – they do not have stores or websites. Some artists do. But most sell to gallery or store owners that want to carry their work.  For example, read our authenticity policy at our webstore horsekeeping.com.

Authenticity of Native American Jewelry Policy at Horsekeeping

Vintage Shop at Horsekeeping LLC

Our MO (Method of Operation) is that if we have not purchased the item directly from the artist (which occurs frequently when we purchase estate lots) we try to authenticate the origin definitively. If we can not, then we do not call it Native American, we do not call it Navajo, Zuni or Hopi. We just sell it as-is even though it might show all the characteristics of being Native American made. This is important to us, to our customers and to Native American artists.

If an item is of unknown origin and/or materials and does not show design or workmanship characteristics of Native American jewelry, it goes into the Bargain Barn. We have made a few mistakes over the years and put some valuable things in there just because we couldn’t authenticate them. But better to err on the safe side.

Bargain Barn for items of unknown origin

 

CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY

Unless filled out by the artist, a COA is not worth the paper it is printed on………..

Legally, only the artist who makes a piece can fill out a Certificate of Authenticity (COA). Otherwise IMHO, a COA is not worth the paper it is printed on. Therefore, for a seller to send you a generic certificate or one that the seller signs serves no purpose. Most artists sign their work with a hallmark.  Of those that do not sign, very few provide COAs.

NATIVE AMERICAN JEWELRY GROUPS

So what to do in the case of unsigned vintage or contemporary pieces? One route it to find Native American jewelry “experts”. The internet makes this possible through groups.

There are many groups on the internet that are devoted to Native American jewelry,. Some have great educational and sharing atmospheres! Others are negative and combative and some members give answers and opinions that are self-aggrandizing and self-serving. As with any group, the cream will rise to the top.  I’ll list a few of my favorite groups below. After you successfully join the group, ask for comments on the piece you are considering buying or are getting ready to sell.

Here are some group tips:

1. When you post to a group, give as much information as possible: dimensions, weight, type of materials, where you got it, any other provenance you might have.
2. Include a lot of photos with your question. They should be large, clear and show all aspects of the piece, including closeups of key features and hallmarks. Even with all this it is sometimes hard to tell for sure if something is authentic from photos. There is nothing like having the piece in hand. But in many cases, photos do the trick because certain aspects are easily recognizable.
3. Everyone has an opinion. Some opinions are better than others. And some opinions are just not right ! Once you join a group you will soon learn which members not only have an opinion but back it up with experience, facts, information and research. Those members are gold.
4. Some comments might sting because not all members filter their thoughts. Your 1970s bracelet might be called rough or ugly even if it IS NA made. So brace yourself for some honest opinions. Also be ready for people to make inappropriate comments when they haven’t even taken the time to thoroughly look at your photos, read your description or read previous comments. Some just leap before they look. Or look but do not see. So take all comments with a grain of salt.
5. Be polite and grateful and contribute when you can – that’s what makes a community work !
6. Don’t use the group space for personal chatter and silliness. Most groups prefer to stick to the topics at hand. Post a serious inquiry, you are likely to get a serious answer. After all, that is what you want, right?

Here are some of my favorite groups – please let me know of others that you think should be added to the list.

Navajo Jewelry: Antique, Mid-Century, & Contemporary

Historic Navajo Jewelry

Let’s Talk Turquoise

Historic Hopi and Pueblo Jewelry

Contemporary Zuni Jewelry

Historic Zuni Jewelry

Zuni Jewelry – Let the Buyer Beware

Paula