Modern Hallmark Help

Hi I know evryone here, including me, likes the old stuff, but I just got this little modern one. I think I paid pretty close to retail. I like it and it fits for once so I’m happy… The lady I bought from got it new from a trading post.

It is marked CW. I checked ebay and the style doesn’t match either of the 2 CW artists listed on Artamerindien. Any guesses as to who made it? Navajo? Zuni?


Found it! I should have googled corn row first instead of hallmark cw - stumbled across exact same one at durango silver website. Sorry about that - I would delete this post if I could. Anyway, this is by Christin Wolf and if the retail price I saw is true, then I only paid a fraction, so I’m likin’ that part too…the kicker for me is I don’t know this contemporary artist and the store had it listed under Navajo, then described the bracelet as Zuni and called the artist Native American. So…my next task is to call them directly…

Still not sure on maker for this one. Sadly, I found out that Jerry McKenzie, aka Christin Wolf passed away from cancer last August. He sent his entire inventory to Rogoway Gallery in Tubac, AZ before he passed. They agreed to take a look at my pix and I am waiting to hear back from them. In the mean time I bought a 20yr old book by Judith Adamson called The Mythological Expressions of Southwest Design, which has a very nice biography on Jerry McKenzie and helped me understand that this is a studio in NM that produced some beautiful pieces. (And also that my bracelet would probably be a production piece since I know there is more than one of them out there and doesn’t really look anything like the pieces shown in the book).

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Hi. I am looking for the hallmark “QK”. I bought a pair of Navajo watch tips off of Ebay and am looking for the maker. I tried several sites but couldn’t find a QK anywhere. Thank you!

Quanita Kalistewa? Try searching that name and see if you can find similar pieces and compare the initials.

Ok, here’s the skinny: RG forwarded to Craig, Jerry’s son. He doesn’t recognize the design nor does he believe they ever signed a piece with just CW.

So…Not Christin Wolf after all.

If nothing else, I learned something new. Always cool in my book. But I’m back to square one- if anyone knows the CW hallmark, please let me know.

Well, I didn’t expect to be updating so soon…I spoke with the really nice folks at Durango Silver who have the other one I saw (not in stock, so maybe same bracelet even). They said they got it from one of the traders that come through and that they had it for about 15 yrs or so before offering it up for sale. They looked at Artamerindien while I had them on the phone and attributed it to Cheryl Wadsworth. She is Hopi and does overlay. Later I found these similar items online from a random seller attributed to Bill Willie - wonder if maybe a relative?

Thank you KatK. I looked her up and found 2 pieces for sale by an artist with that name, but they have the hallmark “PY”. I found several Kalistewas selling pieces on Ebay, but no Quanita. The search continues!

I don’t know if Cheryl Wadsworth makes sense. This piece is Navajo, not Hopi. I tried to do a little research on this and came across the name Charles Willie in Hougart’s book. Did a google search and found some stuff on Garlands, but the hallmarks don’t match. Maybe this is an earlier piece, it has him active since the 1980s.

Thanks Jason! I was leaning that way too. It would be interesting to know someday if Charles Willie turned out to be related to Bill Willie…

It does look like Christin Wolf
I have a similar inscription on my piece

Interesting. That is Wilbert Vandever’s hallmark in the feather - I didn’t know he worked with Christin Wolf. Learned something new!

It would be nice to see the other side of that piece. Give us an idea of why it is a collaboration piece.

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