I have inherited these bolos and the only thing I’ve learned is that they may be Navajo. I do know my father purchased them in or near Quartsite, AZ 35-40 years ago. Any help learning about them would be greatly appreciated
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Beautiful stones, one of my favorites, so many wonderful colors. Hopefully someone here will be able to help with ID. Enjoy wearing them.
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Beautiful bolos! I’ve never really seen much with fire agates.
The hallmarks are interesting. The first one reminds me of Charlie John’s mark, but the second one not so much, although I know they can have some variance. The work doesn’t remind me of his either; he tends to work with overlay and/or stamping, and if he uses a stone, usually just one. But maybe it’s one of his earlier pieces. I believe he started work around 1970, and went out on his own full-time silversmithing around 1990. Garland’s in Sedona, AZ carries quite a bit of his work, so you might try contacting them, or seeing if he’s on Facebook or instagram.
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Beautiful stones , silver work and patina. Looks a little like Corbet Joe hallmark …more like Charlie John….but doesn’t look like his work either.
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@Fireagate Hi & Welcome. Wow, those are great bolo ties! I’m a fan of fire agate. I checked my Hougart’s book on Native American/Southwestern Silver Hallmarks. In my opinion, Corbet Joe may possibly be a match for your hallmark. I’m unfamiliar with his work, though.
I didn’t find anything on that other hallmark.
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Can‘t tell you who made them, but these are really special pieces. The level of expert craftsmanship represented is nothing short of amazing. Whoever made these demonstrates absolute expert level craftsmanship with composition, clusterwork, stamp making, stamping, leaf design, and works with a jewelers saw as only a true master can.
Would love to know who made these!
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Thanks @Steve. I took a look at some of his work online. He really seems to me a master at everything he made. Just impeccable work and technique!
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It does look a more like a Corbet Joe hallmark. What confused me is when I looked online his work seems to be mostly chip inlay. But I see the bio says stamping and nugget work also.
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These two hallmarks can be very confusing. But looking more I agree it looks more like Joe’s mark and work. But what’s weird is this mark…
looks looks an awful lot like Charlie John’s mark
I’ve been down this rabbit hole quite a bit in the past since I have a cuff by Charlie John.
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I somehow missed Patina’s post of the same shot from Hougart’s book.
key takeaway is the (usually misaligned) part
key injector of confusion is this page
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Looking at the precision and style of the work, I’m inclined to agree with you @Ziacat. For the work to be by the same silversmith, he’d have to be somewhere in his late 60’s into his 70’s now.
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I know, right?! Although to me both artists’ marks look slightly misaligned. That’s why I posted the Charlie John piece from Garland’s. I trust them because I believe they buy directly from the artist.
For me what makes it look more like Joe’s mark is the fact that they’re spaced farther apart.
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And last night when I commented it didn’t have the hallmark page in front of me so I forgot about Joe; I just knew it was a very similar mark to Charlie John’s, but I also knew the work seemed different.
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So here is what makes these hallmarks so difficult for me to discern. First is from Palm’s Trading , who does buy directly from the artist, and this is a Charlie John piece…
On this next Charlie John bolo, the mark looks a bit more like the mark on the second bolo that the OP posted (and the bolo is typical of his work).
The third pic is some info on Corbett Joe, and has his mark.
Because of the type of work, I lean towards @Fireagate’s buckle being made by Corbet Joe, but sometimes these two different marks drive me a wee bit insane.
Edit: I realize I’ve been saying his name backwards, but don’t know if I can correct all of them in my posts 
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Charlie John has history with Tommy Singer workshop
Tommy Singer credited with chip inlay
design elements from this piece lead me to believe it is a Charlie John piece and not Corbet Joe as stated by seller.
tangled web for sure
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You may be right, but I’m really not aware of Charlie John doing chip inlay, and it is not what he is known for, but I am not sure what his earliest work was like. Through the years I’ve done a lot of digging on his work.
Oh my gosh, the bottom teepee looks very much like the one on my possibly Tommy Singer cuff!
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Not seeing anywhere near the attention to detail and precision in this work. This far more than the common initials is the ultimate indicator for me. Every artist leaves a unique sense of style and execution in their work and I’m just not seeing the same set of hands at work here.
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This is typical Charlie John work, which is very different from the piece Steve posted. It also seems different than the fire agate bolos the OP posted.
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Yes it does. Looking only at the work, I don’t think it’s likely the fire agate bolos were made by either of these silversmiths.
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