Internet Search Caution – Native American Hallmarks

This post relates to hallmarks but it also contains an important caution about internet searches. Read on.

Previously someone had written me about a Navajo artist, Simon Yazzie and several people wrote in comments that they also had heard of an artist called Simon Yazzie. You can read that complete thread here.

https://nativeamericanjewelrytips.wordpress.com/2010/07/30/native-american-hallmarks/

This past week I received this new query from a reader:

Hi Paula,
I run a jewelery store and recently bought two silver pendants from a walk in customer that have “SY Sterling” on the back. I know a lot about jewelery, EXCEPT for Native American jewelery. I would like to sell these items but do not want to falsely label or price what they are…can you please help?! I can email pictures to you if you like…thanks a bunch, J

Read about Authenticity here.

Authentic Navajo Inlay Bracelet

The SY hallmark immediately made me think of the recent discussion about Simon Yazzie (see link to related post above) since several readers had suggested there was such an artist and there very well might be – I am just not familiar with his work or his hallmark.

We have had items by Steve Yellowhorse in our store and Steve usually uses the hallmark SY with a horse.

So before I answered J, I typed “Simon Yazzie” in google and on the first page of 10 results, there was a link to this blog in about 4th position connected to the above referenced article.

So I clicked on 4 of the other top search results and 3 opened with a Warning message from my browser and my anti-virus program that the sites were a potential threat. Immediately I closed those. The other one I opened started automatically running a fake (but seemingly real) Windows Security Scan – looked just like your Windows program screen might look and after a 5 second faux scan, it said that it had discovered 7 Trojans and viruses and so forth. And it asked me to click a certain button to fix the problems.

I did not click (a good rule of thumb is to never click anything you are not sure of to avoid virus contamination). I closed that window, closed my browser and then opened my Anti-Virus program (which happens to be Trend Micro) and did a scan of my hard drive which revealed NO THREATS.

Then, I reopened my browser and typed in some other artist’s names just to test but with them, I got typical, legitimate results.

I once again typed in “Simon Yazzie” and got the bogus results again that I described above.

So I wanted to pass this along to you all – for some reason, there is something odd going on with the Simon Yazzie name on the internet. And I want to caution you to avoid those websites that come up if you would happen to do a search.

Now to answer J’s question:

Dear J –

I hope this will be of help.

Please realize it is only my opinion based on the photos you sent.

My first impression and that of my husband is that the pendants are not Native American made. If we had received them in a pawn lot, we would put them in our Bargain Barn where we list items that we can not authenticate.

Some of the items we sell there might very well be Native American but we won’t list an item as such unless we are sure. It seems to me that the two pendants you have look more like Asian (or possibly Mexican) reproductions attempting to look like a Native American style piece. I could be totally wrong but that is our collective impression.

There are several design features that do not seem “right”:
The design element on the bail of the pendant with the eagle head doesn’t seem right – it would traditionally be stamped or plain, but not with that textured portion.
The eagle head itself is beautiful but it just isn’t usual – we’ve seen some carved Mexican items like this.
The silver globs dropped randomly alongside the eagle head aren’t traditional – I’ve not seen that.
The bezels of all the stones on the multi-colored stone pendant are unlike any Native American ones we’ve seen.
There are several stones that I question – they could be man made and that is why I don’t recognize them.

With all that said, my philosophy is, if it is a beautiful piece, price it accordingly and just don’t say or suggest that it could be Native American.

Unless you know for sure that an item is Native American made (by purchasing
the item from the artist directly or having a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist and provided by the person who sold it to you) it would be illegal to represent it as such. Legally, you can’t say something is Native American simply referring to its style – it must be Native American made to use that term.

Buying directly from a Native American artist is the best way to verify authenticity

You can read more about the legality of authenticity here
http://www.horsekeeping.com/jewelry/Authenticity.htm

So besides, Steve Yellowhorse’s SY hallmark with a horse, the only other use I have seen of SY is Shirley Yazzie whose pieces are very simple and traditional.

Native American Jewelry – Hallmark on Squash Blossom Necklace

Hello Paula,

Thank you for the beautiful Terry Martinez bracelet !  I recently bought a beautiful green turquoise squash blossom necklace ( I love green!) at Hubbell Trading Post but do not know the artist – looks like old pawn – but says “sterling” on it – also initials LFK. Any idea how I could research the artist?

AH

Hello AH,

Note on 12-7-2019 LKF is the hallmark of Leon Curley AKA Keith Stone. Paula

On the squash blossom necklace, are the three letters all the same size (or is the F larger?) and are the letters in plain Gothic letters or script and are there any periods after any of the letters?

Paula

No, the letters are all the same size and very close together – no periods. But thank you for trying to help me – the necklace does seem older – the beads are rather large and are melons I was told – very beautiful – not a real shiny necklace – looks used. I was told it was silver and the stones were turquoise but did not ask about the artist – the lady at Hubbell’s had written the artists names on the receipts for me but I did not look at the receipt for the necklace until we had left – no artist name was given for this piece. Just looked closer in the light and on one of the squash blossoms the letters are there also – and the F is faint but could be longer – no periods tho. The word sterling is also on this squash blossom.  Is this usual?

 

Generally if the piece is marked Sterling, it might be used but not real old. That seems to be more of a recent trend, say 80s and later. And even initial hallmarks are more of a “modern” trend, same time frame.

 

Before that, most pieces had no sterling designation, no initials, no letter hallmarks but might have had symbols like arrows, claws, thunderclouds etc.

 

Quite a number of contemporary artist are making things in the “old style”, that is, old design patterns and pieces and antiqued to look old. Here is an example of a brand new contemporary bracelet made to look like it has a 20 year old patina.

Although melon beads are an old-style bead, a few contemporary artists such as Virginia Tso are making them. This example is also antiqued. The melon beads are the long ones in the photo.

 

The reason I asked about the size of the letters in the hallmark is that sometimes two artists, such as two brothers or two sisters or a husband and wife team will put the last name initial in the middle slightly bigger and then either of their first names on the sides. For example the belt buckle below has the hallmark LLC which stands for Leslie and Gladys Lamy two talented Zuni artists. Often when more than one artist is credited on a piece, it means that one does the stone work and the other does the silver work.

In the case of your squash blossom necklace, the LFK could stand for something like (and this is a hypothetical example, not real names) Linda and Ken Francisco or it could stand for (another hypothetical example) Lawrence F King. However, I can not find LFK in any of my hallmark books. And most last names that begin with K are Zuni and since your squash blossom is Navajo, I’m leaning more toward F being the last name.

 

But the bottom line is that your best bet, as always, is to contact the seller and ask them – it would be the most certain and definitive answer, otherwise anyone else would be guessing……….and I don’t even have a good guess on this one!

 

Best of luck and come see us again. Enjoy that beautiful bracelet !

 

Bear Paw or Bear Claw? Necklace or Pendant?

 

Hi,

I am looking for a bear claw necklace. I saw you had one for sale ( bear claw, sterling silver and turquoise and coral, leaves and rain drops.)  I would like to see if you can make one for sale like that one.

Stuart

Hi Stuart,

I’m not sure exactly which item you were looking at. If you would like to send a URL of the page where the item was sold, that would be best.

But in the meantime, here are a few definitions of how terms are used when referring to Native American jewelry. My husband says it is a girl thing to know what these things mean and boys often use the wrong terms ! Just so we are talking about the same thing here……….

A pendant is a separate piece that is hung on a chain, collar, beads or leather thong.

A necklace is a complete unit that encircles the neck- it may or may not have a central piece or pendant.

A bear claw pendant or necklace is one made with a bear claw (real or faux) or out of other materials in the shape of a bear claw.

A bear paw necklace or pendant is made in the likeness of a print of the bear’s paw.

Now for some examples.

Native American Bear Claw Pendant

Sterling Silver Native American Bear Claw Pendant

Vintage Native American Bear Claw Necklace

Native American Bear Paw Necklace with Pendant

Native American Bear Paw Necklace

Now as far as your last question – can we make a specific one for you?  We don’t make any jewelry here. We purchase all of the new items we sell from Native American artists who make the items. Here’s how that goes. The artists tend to gather their materials in the fall and work over the winter on their jewelry. In the early spring, they start offering what they have made for sale. We make several trips during the spring and summer to purchase what we need for our store.

As far as special order items, when we first opened our web store, we took a few special orders but in 95% of the cases, either the item was not as expected, it took too long to make, or the customer changed their mind. The stone was the wrong color or size, the bracelet was too big or too small, the necklace was too long or too short………So we no longer take any special orders.

But it is always a good idea to keep an eye on our new page and the Pawn Shop where we add items daily and we never know what is going to come into the Pawn Shop.

You can go to the Pawn Shop or the New Page by clicking the appropriate photo.

Native American Jewelry – Watch Styles

Hi! I just found your website. I saw a turquoise cuff watch that i loved… but it was sold already. Is there any way you can email me when you get something like that in. I am very interested in cuff watches. The one I loved was #w203… anything similar would be great. Let me know what you think. Thanks, chrissy

Hi Chrissy,

The watch you are referring to that was sold was indeed unique because of the fact the watch face was mounted on the end of the cuff rather than in the middle. It was the first and only watch like that we have ever had in our pawn shop.

Native American watches are usually made in three styles:

Expansion band watches where the watch tips are the only Native American made portion. (Watch tips is the term given to the two decorative panels that connect the watch face to the expansion band.)

Link watches where all but the watch face is Native American made.

Cuff watches where all but the watch face is Native American made.

Here is an example of each.

Native American Expansion Band Style Watch

Native American Link Watch

Native American Cuff Watch

Since the above cuff watch is a very large men’s watch, here is another example of a more typical ladies cuff watch from the front and the back so you can see how it is very much like a cuff bracelet.

Native American Ladies Cuff Watch – Front View

Native American Ladies Cuff Watch – Rear View

As far as emailing you when we get more cuff watches in, I’ve tucked your email into my WANTED folder and will do my very best to alert you……..BUT really the best way to see our new items is to watch our NEW ITEMS page.  Every day we list a number of new items and they show up there first.

Have fun browsing and let me know if I can answer any other questions.

Native American Jewelry – More on Appraisals

In an August 26, 2010 Wall Street Journal article entitled

SERVICES SPOT HIDDEN GEMS AMONG THE JUNK

five on line appraisal sites were evaluated.

While I have no personal experience with any of the sites and don’t know if any of them would do a good job with Native American Jewelry, I thought this might be of interest to those of you who have asked me about appraisals.

Turquoise and Sterling Silver Cluster Bracelet by Dean Brown, Navajo

Native American Hallmarks – Inherited Belt Buckle

Hi, I inherited a very old and beautiful large, silver, turquoise and coral belt buckle.  The first and last name are engraved on the back.  The first name is Emerson, but the last name is hard to read.  It may be Ralson, or Ratson.  Do you have any idea how I can find out more about the origin of this item?  I’ve sent you photos of the belt buckle. Any information about this buckle will be greatly appreciated. It was my late father-in-law’s buckle. I’m the western horse rider in the family and it means a lot to me to wear the buckle, in honor of my father-in-law.Thank you! Sheryl

Vintage Navajo Belt Buckle

Hi Sheryl,

That engraved signature on the back is “Emerson Ration”. The last name Ration is a Navajo family name – there are several members in my hallmark book including one “E. Ration” who signed some of his pieces with a stamp in Gothic letters E. RATION. A first name is not given for E. Ration but it could be Emerson. Artists often sign their pieces several ways and it could be that after he made the belt buckle, he decided to sign it or was asked to sign it by whoever purchased it and once it was made, he couldn’t stamp the back (it would have damaged the stones on the front) so he chose to use an engraver. That is my best guess.

But it could also be that he signed his pieces with an engraver early in his silversmithing career and then moved to the Gothic stamp.

If it is the E. Ration in my hallmark book, here is some more information on him:

Silversmith for Bernie Dominguez. First used this hallmark in 1975.

To me the buckle is made in the style of those from the 1970s, especially the type of coral used. Here is a bolo tie from the same era.

Vintage Navajo Bolo Tie

By the way, one of our favorite contemporary artists is Bennie Ration. Here are a few examples of his work.

Sterling Silver and Turqoise Kachina Pendant by Bennie Ration, Navajo

Sterling Silver and Turquoise Feather Pendant by Bennie Ration, Navajo

Calendaria Turquoise and Sterling Silver Pendant by Bennie Ration, Navajo

Fox Mountain Turquoise and Sterling Silver Necklace by Bennie Ration, Navajo

Native American Jewelry – Appraisal and Investment

I love your blogs and all the insightful information. You’re doing a great job and a great service to those of trying to learn.

So, what does it normally cost to get an item appraised? How do you go about finding a trustworthy appraiser?

Basically, I’m gathering that you should buy what you love and if you’re given something or inherit something and you don’t love it, then find out the price, sell it and move on with life. But certainly, by all means, do not do something silly like buy Native American turquoise jewelry based on the investment idea. Correct?

Terri
Hi Terri,

Thanks. It is a labor of love, so its good to hear it is helpful and appreciated!

First question – how much does it cost to get an item of Native American jewelry appraised? From free to whatever the person charges. And a $200 appraisal does not necessarily mean it is better than a free one. With Native American jewelry, there are few certified appraisers but there are many knowledgeable people who can see quite a number of important details in a few minutes.

Second question – how to find a trustworthy appraiser? That’s a good question and one that I can’t answer with specific names. To find a certified appraiser, you might contact several of your local jewelers and ask for referrals. I typed in “native american jewelry appraiser” in google and there were quite a few interesting leads.

I am not an appraiser but more of an educator, sharing knowledge that I’ve gained from years in the business.

Final Question: Yes, buy what you love and enjoy wearing it. If you are given something that is not you, if it is a modest gift, you can regift it to someone who would appreciate it or if of significant value, sell or trade.

But as far as investment potential, I’d have to say yes and no. For the newer, less expensive pieces, buy them for the joy they bring to own and use and perhaps pass on to someone in your family.

Only if you are in the market for high end contemporary pieces or older, more valuable pieces and you have the knowledge and experience to know the difference between trash and treasures, should you consider Native American jewelry and art as an investment. Native American jewelry that was made in the 60s, 70s and 80s (and certainly before that) was often made with turquoise from mines no longer producing today. The silverwork was totally handmade, so these pieces have a greater value to a collector. There are many people who buy and resell collectible pieces of Native American art such as pottery, baskets, blankets and jewelry. But it is a field, like any other that requires knowledge or an experienced mentor.

I’m going to give you some examples. First using contemporary jewelry. Below is an example of an item that should be purchased for the joy of use, but not as an investment expecting future returns.

In contrast, below is a bracelet that could be purchased, carefully used or put away and then resold in the future for a profit. It is investment quality.

Now moving to used items, first here is an example of an older item that should be purchased to use and enjoy.

And here is a bracelet that has value to a collector so could be purchased as an investment.

If you browse the sold sections of the pawn shop (the bottom of each section page) you will see various pieces that have sold and there is a wide range from user friendly prices to investment quality items.

Dooney & Bourke – Authenticity

PLEASE VISIT MY NEW BLOG DEVOTED ENTIRELY TO VINTAGE DOONEY & BOURKE HANDBAGS http://vintagedooneybourke.wordpress.com/

 

Hello,
I recently purchased 2ea D & B handbags at a thrift store.  They were all dirty and I paid 10.00 for each.  I brought them home and cleaned them with a soft cloth with just soap and water.  They dont have any tears only some slightly little scratches on one of them.  One of the bags I think, is an authentic D & B, I can tell because all the rivets say Dooney and Bourke, it has the red white blue tag and it looks authentic to me.  The other bag, I can’t seem to find a picture of it anywhere online!  Its a double strap shoulder bag, it has 5 little feet at the bottom and inside where the feet are they say Dooney Bourke.  The straps dont come off, they are sewn onto the outer side of the bag, it does have a red white and blue tag with serial number, it has a top zipper opening and a pocket on front and back along the length or width of the bag.  They both have the duck seal in the front in good condition that says All Weather Leather. Do you think this might be a fake D & B?  I love D & B and thought this was a good buy since they are the vintage all weather leather bags.  I own authentic D & B bags so I’m not sure what to think on these 2. Can you help me on this?
Thank You, Maria

Hi Maria,

First I want to be sure you know about our pages that list the authenticity factors of Dooney & Bourke handbags and accessories.
Bag #1

Usually if the rivets say Dooney & Bourke on them, the bag is authentic. That coupled with the fact that it has the “Dooney & Bourke Made in USA” red, white and blue tag sewn inside with a serial number on the back makes it almost positive the bag is authentic.

Bag #2

Since you say it does have the RWB tag with serial number, that should be enough to authenticate it. But as I read your note I wonder if you meant to say “it does not have…..”?

From what you write, they both seem authentic and at $10 each, if the condition is good without soiling, odors or damage to leather or stitching, you got a great buy.

I’m sending you my email address so you can send me photos if you like.

Native American Artifacts – Medicine Bag of Deceased

How is a medicine bag properly laid to rest after the owner has passed?

 

Apache Horse Spirit Medicine Bag by Cynthia Whitehawk

 

Hello,

If the deceased was not Native American, it is a highly personal matter. The medicine bag and/or its contents could be buried with the deceased or passed along to a family member or friend if that is the owner’s intended desire or designation.

If the deceased was a Native American, it would be best to contact an elder, a medicine man, a shaman or healer from the tribe to learn the proper customs for the treatment of the medicine bag and its contents.

 

Although it is not customary for a Native American to be buried with his riches, it is customary to bury his medicine bag or totem with him unless he wills them away. A totem is an animal spirit that a person chooses (or the totem chooses the person) as an ally through life, so it is in death. A totem item, such as a carved stone fetish of the animal, might be included in the medicine bag.

Zuni Raven Carved Fetish Totem

In addition, some tribes bury food (a small sack of corn or beans), water, possibly tobacco and hunting tools, such as a bow, arrow and knife with the deceased for his journey.

Native American Jewelry Repair – Inlay

I have a Zuni lapis inlay ring that has the dark blue stones damaged. I would like to have the damaged stones replaced with either onyx, or a combination of multi colored stones… please advise.