Probably Made In The Early 1900s?
Q: Where can I find information on a piece of Native American jewelry that was probably made in the early 1900s? There is an arrow as a trademark. Any help is greatly appreciated.
A: You will need to be a little more discriptive in what you have. For example, The styles for the various tribes in the early 1900 were distinctive. Navajo, Zuni, Santa Domingo Pueblo, Cherokee, and others. also is it cast, hammer forged, or made from commercial sheet silver? The Hallmark system was not employed as in europe and it was not the custom to "sign" work until after ww2 This when guilds started forming. There were a number of Indian Jewelry "factories" cranking out trinkets and sold as genuine indian made, by dint of having the machines run by indians, back in the 1930's They also made stamping tools to sell to silvermiths. This begs to ask, is the stamp "signature" a commercially made stamp or a hand made stamp? Also it could be a newer piece made in the "old style" I made many historic navajo pieces back in the 1960's '70 and '80s but would hallmark them in the hopes that no one would foist them as antique though they where certainly pieces of real native american jewelry.