Hi, I’m new to this site and need help with a hallmark. Unfortunately, I see there are others online improperly listed with incorrect artist information. I’m going to try to attach pics of a few others with the same hallmark I’ve seen because the other items ahve a clearer picture of the hallmark. I still can’t be sure if it’s ‘AML’ or ‘AMI’. I have asked a few of the artist shops in Canada, but no one seems to know who the artist is. Mystery marks make me crazy ! There’s just got to be some info out there about this amazing artist. Some have suggested it’s someone in the Seaweed family since this is their style. One of the posts here from a few years ago ended in 2023 with no further information, so I’m asking for help again.
can you post a picture of the full front
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the pictures are from various items listed on various sites online. These are not my items, I just need to know whose makers hallmark it is. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I’m having trouble uploading pics, I’m old. give me a few minutes please
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We’ve got a couple members on here that like to collect and are familiar with Pacific Coast and First Nations art. Hopefully they’ll chime in, but the majority of us are much more familiar with southwestern Native American art. I vacationed a while ago on Vancouver Island and bought several pieces of First Nations art, and my family spent a lot of time in Ontario when I was a child and bought some Inuit carvings, but I’m pretty clueless as far as artists. I really love your orca (is that what it is?) with the hinged tail, so cool!
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The pictures are from various items listed on various sites online. These are not my items, I just need to know whose makers hallmark it is. All of the pictured items are sterling silver. I appreciate your input.
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Is there a reason you aren’t showing your item(s) with the hallmark?
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Didn’t the pictures come thru ? I’m new to this. I can see the pictures, maybe they aren’t posted yet ?
Hi ~ My curiosity has gotten the best of me. You’ve stated that the jewelry items you posted do not belong to you. Yet, you have a need to identify the hallmark. Did you once own a special piece with this hallmark that may have been lost? Is there a backstory here?
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oohh.. sorry, I understand now. My husband and I used to live near Seattle and we both love the Haida/Tlingit items and I’ve kept a short list of the artists I’m interested in. This is one of the artists I love, but I can’t find any info about them. I try every now and then to see if there’s anything new posted. The other day I saw the post about one of the items and hoped it was recent and had an answer, but it was from 2023 and no answers. bummer.
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this is just one of like 4 or 5 different deep dives and arguments I’ve had with AI searches.
on this one I pushed for manufacturer rather than single artist id.
During the late-vintage renaissance of Northwest Coast (NWC) formline jewelry between 1970 and 1990, several prominent artists, studios, and manufacturing entities standardized the commercial distribution of authentic Haida and Kwakwaka’wakw art.
This period saw the introduction of high-quality reproduction lines—often using methods like lost-wax casting, die-striking, or precision machine-stamping—to make indigenous artwork accessible to the growing tourist and fine-art gallery markets.
The most notable artists, manufacturers, and galleries specialized in this hybrid market during those decades include:
1. Boma Jewelry (Boma Canada)
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The Operation: Boma was arguably the most dominant commercial manufacturer of Pacific Northwest Coast reproduction jewelry in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
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The Process: Based in Bellevue, Washington, with a major Canadian distribution arm, Boma officially contracted master Haida, Kwakwaka’wakw, and Coast Salish artists to create master molds. They mass-produced these designs in sterling silver and pewter, paying royalties to the indigenous designers.
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The Markings: Like your brooch, Boma pieces feature highly uniform, machine-struck stamps reading
STERLING,BOMA, and a specific copyright date year (e.g.,© 1982).
2. Pan American Ventures / Native Art Agencies
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The Operation: Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, this firm acted as a major wholesale manufacturer and distributor from the mid-1970s through the late 1980s.
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The Process: They actively worked with prominent Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl) carvers from Alert Bay and Kingcome Inlet. The artists provided highly detailed, fluid formline templates, which the company then struck onto silver bracelets, pendants, and brooches for airport shops, museum stores, and coastal tourist hubs.
3. Notable Kwakwaka’wakw Master Artisans (1970–1990)
While commercial manufacturers handles large wholesale lines, prominent tribal silversmiths operated individual studios, creating handmade originals alongside limited, cast boutique editions:
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The Hunt Family (Henry, Tony, Richard, and Stanley Hunt): Operating heavily out of Victoria and Alert Bay, the Hunt family produced masterwork jewelry. They frequently collaborated with local galleries to create screen-printed silver graphics and cast sterling accessories. [1]
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Bill Henderson: A master Kwakwaka’wakw carver who, during the 1970s and 80s, translated traditional woodcarving motifs (like the Sea Wolf, Eagle, and Raven) into finely chased silver and gold-layered jewelry lines. [2]
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Paddy Seaweed: Renowned for highly stylized, deeply cut, fluid silver work that frequently utilized abalone shell eye-inlays identical to the application on your piece. [3]
4. Notable Haida Master Artisans (1970–1990)
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Bill Reid (Iijuwas): The most influential figure in modern Haida jewelry. In the 1970s and 1980s, Reid revolutionized the market by setting up formal studio workshops that produced masterworks, while also licensing specific, cleaner geometric designs for high-end boutique manufacturing.
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Robert Davidson (Guud San Glans): Emerging as a powerhouse in the 1970s, Davidson established lines of jewelry characterized by crisp, ultra-precise, minimalist formline cuts that heavily influenced commercial Northwest Coast silver templates throughout the 1980s.
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Don Yeomans: A master Haida carver who worked extensively between 1970 and 1990, bridging the gap between museum-grade hand-engraved pieces and limited-production jewelry castings. [4, 5]
Key Context For Your Brooch
The hallmark community has documented the exact “AMI” script signature stamp from your brooch as a known regional maker mark appearing on various late-20th-century Northwest Coast pewter and silver tourist lines. It represents an artisan or design line distributed through regional Canadian souvenir suppliers in British Columbia to safely copyright and monetize indigenous formline art. [6, 7]
If you are interested in exploring further, I can help look up specific pricing trends for vintage Boma or 1990s First Nation cast jewelry, or explain the symbolic tribal meaning of the Sea Wolf/Hamatsa crest on your pin. What direction would you like to take?
[1] https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
[2] https://spiritsofthewestcoast.com
[3] https://www.mymondotrading.com
[5] https://www.invaluable.com
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Mary, Welcome to the forum! This appears to be a cast/mass reproduced piece (as opposed to a one-off original). My best suggestion is a facebook group, where i have had excellent luck identifying pacific northwest makers.
SE AK Native Silversmiths Attribution Group
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