Hello,
I recently bought this pendant from an antique shop, a turquoise set in sterling silver. The back of the pendant is hallmarked Sterling LL. From what I could see from the hallmark database of www.art-amerindien.com, this LL could be the hallmark of Lambert Livingston, a Navajo artist. It lt looks at least similar. But I’m no expert so, well, I could be totaly wrong.
Could it be the work of this artist?
Thanks!
Join the club. It can be confusing. I would google his name and compare presumably known samples of his work.
Caveat: The problem arises in that many if not most general online sellers don’t actually know what they are talking about when attributing many items. They find one hallmark and go with that name. So you may find several styles attributed to one maker. You will need to do as much research as possible and extrapolate from there.
You might find a shop that purchases directly from the maker and could make inquiries.
Well, based on pictures I could find of other works attributed to him, and if, as you say, the pieces are correctly attributed on said websites, it could be the work of Lambert Linvingston. On much of the other works I could find the hallmarks look very similar and the kind of “decorated borders” is on some of the pieces attributed to him. But well, never can be sure.
In any case, thanks for the advice!!
and adding to the confusion, anyone can buy those block letter stamps and put them on whatever they want.
From doi.gov: Penalties under the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.
“For a first time violation of the IACA, an individual can face civil or criminal penalties up to a $250,000 fine or a 5-year prison term, or both. If a business violates the IACA, it can face civil penalties or can be prosecuted and fined up to $1,000,000.”
The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 | U.S. Department of the Interior.
Definitely confusing. I do think you can rule out any hallmark that is Hopi or Zuni, because I don’t think this piece looks like either of those. It may remain a mystery.
The piece @Steve jist posted is lost wax cast and made overseas. There is nothing authentic or native about it. A perfect example of an entire class foreign goods purpose made to be passed off as Native to unsuspecting consumers,
The turquoise pendant is nice, but pretty generic in terms of the style. No telling who made it or where it was made. The comment about block lettering stamps is on the money. Without provenance, the maker and even country of origin remains anyone’s guess.
^TSF was sued a while back for abusing hallmarking of jewelry, using hallmarks not by the artist (in the case of Calvin Begay).
https://tribalartery.blogspot.com/2009/08/is-your-calvin-begay-really-calvin.html
Yep. The stuff comes in from overseas, the stick on import labels come off when it hits their distribution warehouse, and from there is merged into commerce here in the US, often with a 10X (or more) markup from the jobber price their retailers pay for the merchandise.
You’ll often see it selling at 50% discounts, to give the consumer the impression they’re getting some kind of special deal.
If you’ve ever wondered how dozens of stores in the same area of Scottsdale basically selling the exact same product from the exact same sources are able to prosper, this is your primer.
Yeah, I know it’s unfortunately also a possibility. That would be sad but it can’t be ruled out, I know.
Thanks for the explanation!
Regarding the origin of the piece, I think I’l never know for sure. I live in France, and the antique shop where I buy quite a lot of my vintage and antique jewelry and stuff, is run by a very nice lady whose area of speciality is ancient dolls. So she’s absolutely no expert in NA jewelry. She buys most of her stuff in private estate sales, so she knows from whom she bought the thing, but not necesarily where it came from in the first place.
But she had an old genuine bracelet by Zuni artist C. Dishta, albeit lacking like half of its inlays (probably lost when the French customs hallmarked it so that it complied with French hallmarking laws), that I bought her, so who knows.
But yes, the possibility that it may be an imitation is not to be ruled out, I know, but that would be a shame…
What I can tell you about your pendant, @Theotihuacan, is that it is 100% handmade. Completely hand fabricated from sheet and wire. The design around the outside is created by hand with a very fine jewelers saw, and that whoever did the work is highly skilled. The pendant bale, twist wire work, and bezel are likewise very, very good and the turquoise is genuine.
Items of this type are often made in lots of say 10 to 50, where a merchant supplies the stones and materials to a craftsperson, and pays the crafts person on a per piece basis to fabricate the jewelry in a certain style.The finished pieces are then sold at jobber (large quantity pricing) to wholesale resellers, or at wholesale (a higher price for lower quantity) to retail outlets.
These pieces over years can change hands many, many times. Typically, no one keeps track of who actually made them, so unless the maker’s style and hallmark are iconic in some way, provenance is quickly lost in the shuffle, and at the end of the day, no one really knows who actually did the work.
The vast majority of Native American style jewelry sold on the retail market today fits into what really amounts to an ‘unknown maker and origin’ category, because it has through the above described process become effectively anonymized, and most online reseller origin claims to the contrary are completely spurious.
That being said, from the observations stated above, I’d give your pendant about 85% odds of being Native American made, and barring discovery of and/or authentication by an known maker, that’s really about the best anyone can do.
Woah, thanks a lot!
Yeah, I understand that if the maker is not well known or established, it can be hard or impossible to track the origin, all the more if it changes hands a lot.
This time at least, I had no doubt about the fact that the turquoise was genuine.
Thank you for the very intersesting explanation on how the “supply chain” (for lack of a better word) works for this kind of things!
Whatever the true origins of this pendant actually are, it was just more out of curiosity that I wanted to know, I’m content with the fact that I find it beautiful and the turquoise has a very nice color and appearance for me.
Thanks again!
Genuine question: how could you tell that it is handmade from sheet and wire instead of, let’s say, being cast or machine-made? Are there like specific elements, or is it the general look of the piece?
Long story short. I can tell because I’m a professional metalsmith, and have a deep background, and decades of hands on experience in both methods for creating jewelry.
Everything from the texture of the metal itself, to the way the piece is formed, worked, assembled, soldered and finished tells the entire story of how the piece was made.
Pieces cast down from handmade masters can be more difficult to detect, especially to an untrained eye.
If you have a 10X loupe, a visual examination of the metal itself will usually tell you. Cast items, especially in the lower end of the price range will have visible porosity, imperfections, and even inclusions not found in metal that is milled. Purely cast items also have no solder joints.
Otherwise the best way to learn is to actually work in both mediums. You’ll quickly get a hands on feel for what is what.
I have no help except to say that I had a pair of earrings that look to have the same mark on them. I bought them in Raton, New Mexico (along with the pendant) years ago. I didn’t wear them much, so I sold them. They were beautifully made.
I’ve in the business for 50 years and I call it Navajo made!
