Hallmarks Of The Southwest

American Southwest Indian artists working in metal, clay, wood, textiles, and paint have proudly left their individual hallmarks on their work-and until now there has not been a comprehensive source for identifying the marks. Barton Wright, the pre-eminent historian, curator, and proponent of these native crafts-people, has filled that void by collecting and organizing these hallmarks into a useful book. Compiled over many years of work with the craftspeople, and with the cooperation of one of their main organizing bodies, the Indian Arts and Crafts Association, Mr. Wright has with this book both made a useful tool for identification and left an important record of the work of these talented people. The information is alphabetically arranged with important personal data, tribal affiliation, working dates, materials used, and facsimiles of their marks.

The author has matched maker's marks used on jewelry, pots, fetish carvings, rugs, and baskets with their names, tribes, relatives, and style notes.

More than 125 vivid color photos display groups of Indian-made wrought silver, turquoise, shell, and coral jewelry brought together from the American Southwest. The authors explore the diversity of this handcrafted jewelry from historic collections as well as those available today on reservations. Includes products of Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, and Rio Grande Pueblo artisans.

This beautiful book examines the first century of Navajo and Pueblo metal jewelry-making in the American Southwest. Beginning in the late 1860s, the region's native peoples learned metalworking and united it with a traditon of beads and ornaments made from turquoise and other natural materials. The cross-cultural appeal of this jewelry continued into the mid-1900s, and by the 1950s and 1960s masters created a legacy of fine art jewelry that is prized today.

The intensive research undertaken for this valuable book properly identifies forty-five Native American silversmiths and their hallmarks found on Southwest jewelry. Most of the marks date prior to the 1970s and some as early as the 1920s, along with the marks of traders, guilds, and the government. This fascinating read also provides the stories of the artists and institutions represented by these marks. Over 275 color and black-and-white images illustrate the marks in situ on the jewelry, along with images of artists, trading posts, and guild ads. The text explains why and when these marks were used. Among the important Navajo, Hopi, and Pueblo silversmiths whose lives and artworks are explored are Grant Jenkins, Fred Peshlakai, Juan De Dios, Da-Pah, Awa Tsireh, and others. The majority of the talented Indian silversmiths represented here left their homes on the reservation in the early twentieth century to work in cities and tourist venues. The profiles presented also feature a handful of contemporary artists who are recognized as master silversmiths.