Help with this unique piece

[Llawrence]

I would love some help with this piece. Marked Joe Begaye 1975. It is not marked sterling so it may not be a choice piece. Thanks for any help.

[gt75]

So what are your questions, and might you have sharper photos please?

[Llawrence]

I could not find any information on Joe Begaye in Hougart. The seller polished it so it would look better……eeek! Just wanting to know if any of the expert may have more info.

[singing]

I couldn’t find anythig as well. Nice work in your cuff. The what looks like bicolor coral in the top stone is cool looking!

[Patina]

@Llawrence That’s a beautiful cuff. Perhaps a butterfly design? Just wondering if the top stone could be operculum shell. It’s unusual, and has that look of an “eye”.

[Islandmomma]

Very cool cuff and I think it resembles a bat. Nice stones.

Here is Joe Begay from an older Barton Wright hallmark book

[Llawrence]

I found Joe Begay also, but this is signed Joe Begaye……there are two silversmiths in the west that sign their work Begaye……maybe same family…the signature is engraved not stamped.

[Ziacat]

I have a buckle by Joe Begay, and it has this hallmark.

I couldn’t find anything on another Joe Begaye. Hard to say that they are the same family, because Begay (and Begaye) is an extremely common Navajo name.

Is it possible that that is not the signature, but an owner engraved that name and spelled it wrong? However, the maker of your buckle may remain a mystery.

[chamekke]

I did find a reference to a Joe Begaye in a listing for a ring by 25-year-old Eddie C.W. Gibson. It says, “Eddie is 25 years old and is self taught. His grandparents, on his Mom’s side, are Joe and Dorothy Begaye of Indian Wells, Arizona.”

I’ve no idea if it’s the same Joe Begaye-with-an-E, but the seller mentions them as though these are names we should know , (I couldn’t find a Dorothy Begaye in Hougart 4th edition either!)

[Llawrence]

I found the same reference….Thanks

[Llawrence]

Anything is possible…Thanks for looking…

[Ziacat]

So I just went down a rabbit hole trying to find out about Joe Begay. He would live part of the year near San Xavier Del Bac, and often sold his work there (I bought my buckle in Bisbee south of there). I knew he had been an actor, but I also read he served in the 82 Airborne Division in Vietnam. One of my uncles was 82 Airborne (and later a Green Beret) in Nam, so this was interesting to me.

[Llawrence]

Isn’t it amazing what research will tell you