Help for Navajo Cuff Bracelet Signed “SS” — Could be Old Pawn ?
I’d like to introduce myself to the group as a avid collector of tribal arts, I collect textiles, pottery, jewellery from various tribes and cultures around the World.
I’m seeking assistance with identifying the artist behind a striking vintage Navajo cuff bracelet in my possession. It’s fairly unique as one of the five large Turquoise nuggets contains Quartz inclusions. As a collector of Native American art and Tribal art from South American it’s important to me to establish the history and the artist . SS covers a few artists and having referenced all my books I’m still left head scratching. I purchased a few pieces from an elderly ladies Jewellery collection and both pieces offer a certain charm.
@Linden Hi & Welcome. This information is from my Bille Hougart’s book, “Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks”. There’s another Navajo silversmith listed: Stella Smiley, hallmark “SS”, either side-by-side or stacked. But, there was no example of her hallmark shown. You may want to research Sherry Sandoval’s jewelry for comparison to your cuff. Hope this is somewhat helpful to you.
Nice cuff! Technically it can’t be actual pawn minus a pawn ticket, and I highly doubt it’s old enough to be “old pawn.” That term is being used a lot incorrectly by online sellers. If you put “old pawn” in the search bar above, you can find a lot of good info on the forum about it.
I would guess (and without good provenance we can mostly just give you educated guesses) your stones are Kingman in nugget form. Quartz inclusions may be somewhat uncommon, but not rare; I have a number of turquoise stones with quartz.
Thank you so much for this information it’s a great help, I’ve collected for sometime and never seen quartz inclusion within Turquoise before.
I few other things stuck out, like the bezel work is less decorative than most even taking into account plain bezel work so my thoughts were this could be the artists personal wear or earlier work ? I’m guessing mid 70’s to late 80s . It certainly doesn’t shout out a tourist piece however my knowledge is limited and I’m very happy to listen and schooled, please feel free to correct me, I’m hear to learn.
