Hi all — hoping for help attributing a hallmark on a vintage pair of Navajo-style sterling silver turquoise dangle earrings from an estate lot.
The mark: “STERLING” flanked by a hook-shaped stamp on the left and a “C” stamp on the right, stamped on the reverse of each earring. Photographed under raking light for legibility (attached).
The piece: Square dish-form plates with banded/ridged detail along the lower edge, sawtooth bezel setting, wire loop bail. Natural turquoise cabochons with brown/rust matrix, matched pair. Combined weight ~13-14g. Construction looks tufa-cast or hand-fabricated, my guess is 1970s-80s.
Any help identifying the smith, or even narrowing down the region/era, would be much appreciated. Thank you!
I am very familiar with Charlie John’s work (I have one of his cuffs), and I would be extremely surprised if these are his.
I’m also wondering if the OP used AI in the description. To say something is either “tufa cast” or “hand fabricated” is kind of covering all the bases And a “hook shaped stamp?”
Thanks so much for the input, everyone — really appreciate the time you both put into this. Sounds like the CJ candidates (Charlie John, Corbet Joe, Corbet Joe Jr.) are all plausible but nothing conclusive, especially since Ziacat’s direct experience with Charlie John’s work doesn’t match what’s on mine. So I’ll leave it as an unattributed CJ-style mark rather than guess at a name — didn’t want to put a specific artist on the listing without something solid to back it up. Also fair callout on the wording — I was trying to be careful not to overstate what I could actually see in the stamp, but I hear how that came across. Lesson learned for next time: just describe it plainly.
For anyone curious, the piece ended up selling as unattributed vintage Navajo sterling/turquoise, which feels like a fair outcome either way. Thanks again for looking!
And a “hook shaped stamp?” 