Hi Koliopee:
I must have taken 60 pics to try and get a few unblurry shots! Took the polishing cloth to the text and the rain cloud in hopes of gaining more visibility in photos. It’s hard to show the raindrops as they are very well worn and the lines on some are faint but visible under my loupe. I still can’t read the text after some serious polishing. Hope these are somewhat helpful
Thank you for asking and any input!
Terry
To me this does not resemble Victor Coochwytewa’s work, which you can see many examples of here:
He most commonly worked in overlay, with detailed yet bold and precise designs, where this ring has a very simple stamped design.
OrbitOrange,
Thank you for your response. I agree wholeheartedly. I was not familiar with him as my collecting mainly consists of old Navajo and a bit of Zuni. But it sure looks nothing like what he is famous for.
Then I wondered if it was even a practice piece. Somebody’s practice piece. Silversmith’s don’t just sit down and create the art they are known for, it is a skill they learn. Either way, it is simple and I like the simplicity.
Thanks again!
Terry
Hi Terry, interesting piece. Aside from the potential problem with the hallmark, IMHO, it doesn’t look NA. I would think that the X’s wouldn’t take a great deal of skill to make. Unless it’s my eyes, the 14k looks like it’s rubbing off at the edges? if so, that would make it a slam dunk fake. You could test it and see. Good luck, Kerry
Hi Kerry: That .925 hallmark had me confused as well. And the design is elementary which made me think a beginning smith piece? I only mention that because I took a semester of basic jewelry making in HS. I was amazed at some of the work, and not surprised by the rest😊. Testing the gold would be an option, but since it is on the face, I hesitate to do that. It does appear everything is leaning towards a fake. My friend in NM didn’t know anything about the marks when she told me she was selling it. I didn’t either. I just remember her uncle wearing it for at least 45 years. Still like it!
Thanks for your input!
Terry
I am finding a handful of pieces in this same style attributed to Victor Coochwytewa, which I believe is incorrect. Has anybody been able to make out the other mark on the left?
This ring is pretty weird and full of questions…I will just add what I’m seeing. I am seeing a solder seem in the right place for a hand fabbed ring but most fakes would be entirely cast which than leaves no solder seams because of time and money. I am seeing .925 as opposed to 9.25 which is a common fake mistake but we believe this is not a fake because of the backstory. The 14k stamp denoting the yellow gold on the front is not unusual but is a different style of stamp from the .925 stamp implying that a different person/processor added the gold is interesting. The gold seems to have only been on the front where it is rubbing off from 45 years of ware. That makes sense because of the softness of gold. This is also not just gold plating or it would be tarnished/corroded much more around the edges and the use of a plated piece on the front of a silver ring would look completely different. Not to mention, I don’t think the piece on the front would be able to be silver soldered to the front after plating…I’ve never used plated material so I’m not sure if it could be done…but the point is that plated material is indicative of a fake and this piece I feel is not plated 14k on the front…I think it looks like a sweat soldered thin gauge 14k gold sheet was added to the front raised panel post cast and then stamped before bougeing it round and then soldered at the rings back seam…Lastly the stamping! I am seeing several different stamps being used here as opposed to the ring that @Jason posted which looked like all the work was done by the same stamp manufacturer…The cloud stamp is all one strike unlike some of the genuine cloud stamp pictures in the book…your cloud has a higher middle and the first and third drops are shorter than the other three which doesn’t match most of the choices I’ve seen here and on the net…but then if you look at the front stamping it all looks like it was stamped into a flat wax ring blank with a stamp tool and both sides match exactly which doesn’t happen in hand stamp work , there is always a little variation as you go along (there is some variation on your rings front stamping but it’s just from uneven ware as it gets rubbed over 45 years of being worn) This style of stamping would imply that it’s a lost wax created base component and mass produced with small post casting additions like the gold overlay on the front and then the base piece they start with being Sterling. The hard to read portion looks a bit like a combo of copyright stamps and a 9 .25 and initials and a word (which is a look similar to the ring @Jason posted but his looks very normal and legit but yours looks similar to what forgeries look like and the stamp style is yet another brand or manufacturer. It’s kind of a conundrum of styles and techniques but the story makes us want to make it true to being tribally/artist affiliated but a lot of the signs of it being real as opposed to being a non native maker are not there…I will keep looking and comparing the different stuff though…I hope this helps🤔
To me it looks like a trademark sign the r with a circle around it…what do you think???
The other left mark is an abreviation for Arizona Az but in a different font the name is Ac Case or maybe Fc Case… reg. trademark symbol and then Az for place of origin…not to mention those earrings look very much like they are small batch hand stamped and hand fabricated pieces with no casting involved in the process…just stamping cutting and sweating and then an overall stepped polishing job.
Hi Jason: I had not seen these. Just the two items I mentioned in my original post. Did do more snooping today and like you said, there are a few more pieces out there. One seller claims VC worked for TC case prior to contracting with Kopavi. I never read that anywhere, but that means nothing. I put my more abrasive polishing cloth to the ring though and it may very well say TC Case and Co but seems to be italicized rather than the block letters I’ve usually seen. Found a few pieces with the italicized style on past LiveAuctioneers items. It also seems TC Case had NA’s hallmark their items as well, similar to some of Teme’s Jewelry. https://www.turquoisecreek.com/products/navajo-sterling-silver-14k-gold-t-c-case-co-hand-stamped-ring-size-7-25
It may be a teeny tiny copyright symbol…maybe?
I am learning so much from all of you. When the ring came in the mail, I thought all the different fonts were weird on the inside. There were just a lot of oddities about them. I knew it was odd on the outside as I’ve seen it many times but still loved it.
You are greatly helping me hone my skills though for when I make an expensive purchase. And for that I thank you all!
Maybe what you have there is an early piece by bc that was maybe the line that inspired these obviously newer versions of the same style and bc licensed his design out to tc case $ co…does this happen in the NA jewelry world?
Not bc! VC 
spell check:crazy_face:
Whew! Rabbit hole for sure! I’ve spent a lot of time on this because I have the same ring and others all stamped H T.C. Case & Co. with the same 3 cloud Hallmark. I’ve searched for the origin of this company and can’t find it & also aware that the 3 could hallmark is Chinese. But, I was told these were NA too, when I purchased. There are currently at least 10 adds on ebay, Etsy, etc. all advertising the same H TC Case & Co. items as Navajo; now I firmly believe that they are “NOT NA” made. Sellers are either not doing their homework or pulling the wool over our eyes by selling items as NA made: it is against the law passed in 1990 per the Indian Arts & Crafts Act of 1990. I’m going to post these for sale but label them made in the Southwestern Style and not Native American made.
OMG…I’ll be darned! At least yours are in much better condition and readable! And the rings have the same pattern, yet the interior markings are consistent size-wise while mine are Willy-nilly.
Rabbit hole no doubt! I have heard of TC Case and Co but am not familiar with him/them. Don’t know if they were a Southwestern shop so am of no help there. I too saw several marked with what appeared TC case and an H which I presume was the artist.
I do not sell much of my NA jewelry anymore with the exception of rings, mainly because it has taken me so long to collect what I have. Being retired and with insane MS drug costs, my budget doesn’t let me spend like a crazy lady anymore. But I agree with you Southwestern style is your descriptive option in selling.
Seems like there is still more work to be done on stopping counterfeiting in the realm of NA Arts. I’m sure you saw this article, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/03/native-american-indian-art-fake-forgery-hopi-zuni0/
Good luck and thank you so much for your response. So glad I wasn’t down the rabbit hole by myself. We are gleaning more and more info!
Terry
I have collected over 200 mainly turquoise & sterling silver pieces and I’m setting up an e-store & sell most of them… I’m almost there! I’ve been researching & learning about Native American artists, old pawn & vintage pieces for over 2 years & joining this group has been one of the best things I’ve done to understand more. This post/thread is encouraging me to post pics and ask opinions on jewelry that I am stumped on, too. Thanks!
I think it is a nice ring either way. One way to narrow it down is test the metals to see if they are real . I don’t believe the Chinese would use real precision metals to counterfeit native American jewelry. The stamp could have been used by someone entirely different but real native American. example… I have an absolutely amazing ring , no doubt old and genuine. its stamped HV. Most would assume Homer Vance . So did I. I used Kim messier book who corrected all these unknown homer Vance stamps and she has an example of the real one. HV is listed as unknown Navajo artist. The ring itself is amazing. And no doubt could have been done by any of the legends such as Homer Vance . Long as you enjoy it and you didn’t pay a kings king’s ransom then I wouldn’t worry much on it. The design is genuine, and my collection goes far beyond jewelry and I have saw many very similar designs in artistic mediums. hope this at least helps you enjoy it no matter who made it
