My associates friend had his savings scammed and he is selling off some items. We are helping him. Here are 10 bolos planned for auction. All are sterling. Any help on identifying the 6 that are hallmarked would be appreciated. Any ideas on pricing would also help. Feel free to PM if you like. Thanks in advance!
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@StevesTrail I’m so sorry to hear that your associates friend got scammed. That’s just awful. This info is from Hougart’s 3rd edition NA/Southwestern Silver Hallmarks book. The “P. Yellowhorse” for Patrick Yellowhorse, Navajo looks like a match to me on that last hallmark. I’m still researching the other hallmarks.
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Yes, on P. Yellowhorse.
Patrick Yellowhorse (@patrickyellowhorse)
Instagram · patrickyellowhorse
470+ followers
Patrick Yellowhorse. patrickyellowhorse. Navajo silversmith, originally from Window Rock Arizona. Works in Silver, Turquoise, and other precious gems.
9
Maybe:
Lovato, Ray (b. 1946) Biography
Ray Lovato is known for his traditional, hand-made beads of natural turquoise. He learned the craft from his parents, Ike and Tonita Lovato, starting at age eleven. After serving two tours of duty in Vietnam, Ray tried construction work but found he was much more content using the skills he had learned from his parents.
Now, most of his seven children have worked with him and learned the art. Lovato is known for his tab necklaces in the shape of corn kernels which they symbolize. He uses high quality American turquoise such as Lone Mountain, Royston, and Sleeping Beauty.
Available Works
I’m thinking this is a different R Lovato. Ray Lovato is Kewa, and I can’t find that he does any work like this. The Amerindian site has this mark with a ?.
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So sorry for your associate’s friend’s situation. Scamming is AWFUL. I’ll try to do a little more digging after a bit. Does he have any idea when they were purchased? Any history at all?
Wonderful pieces, so very sorry about the reason for sale. Unfortunately I am not strong at ID, do agree with the Patrick Yellowhorse and think you should do well with value. It’s a cruel world to pick on vulnerable people, even the brightest get scammed, shame on the scammers.
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That PJ is interesting. I found a PJ, but it looks different and doesn’t have “Navajo” along with it.
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@StevesTrail Unfortunately, I didn’t have success with the other 9 hallmarks. My Hougart’s book did list some FB, PJ, HS initials but nothing close enough to these bolo hallmarks to even post, imo. For bolo #2, I looked at the entire “Symbols” section of Hougart’s book. No hallmark match there. Though, I wonder if the symbol could possibly be a teepee? I believe that @Ziacat has correctly addressed the R Lovato hallmark.
Yes, agree with @Ziacat.
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I just stumbled on a close mark for #2 by Fidel Bahe but his teepee has no inside lines. I wonder if he changed it as some do over time.
Yeah, that was the one I looked at also, and thought possible.
#10 is a Navajo Sandcasting by Francis Begay. This may have been made in my workshop in the late 80’s, before we started using a shop hallmark.
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Thanks everyone for your input. I’m sure it will help in the sales. Interesting the Begay bolo might have been made in your shop @mmrogers .
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We worked with and did a lot of business with Francis during that period. We generated a fair amount of sterling scrap from our hand fabrication work, and maximized returns by having just about all of it recycled into sand castings. The figure 8 round wire bola finding was ideal for it, as there wasn’t enough real estate on the back to use the store bought nickel bolo backs.
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I know Ray Lovato and his family and own a couple of his fabulous tab necklaces. I agree completely with @Ziacat, he is Kewa and although Hougart includes a RL as his hallmark, he has been well known for his natural turquoise and Spondylus heishi and tab traditional Kewa style necklaces. He uses an attached piece of turquoise on his neck wraps as his hallmark. I’ve never seen him do any silver work, but his parents were jewelers and who knows what he may have produced before he specialized in hand made natural turquoise heishi. My personal opinion is this bolo is not his work.
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