The 1930s were a troubling time for Indian silverwork in the Southwest. Besides the devastation wrought by the Great Depression, there was the proliferation of low end (and low quality) tourist trade silverwork, much of which was neither handmade nor Indian made. To combat this, and to restore consumer confidence in the silverwork of the Indian Southwest, several programs were started, both by the government and by private entities. The United Indian Traders Association, which had been formed in 1931, began to give hallmark stamps to member posts and shops that agreed to follow certain quality and authenticity standards. The Navajo tribe itself formed the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild (also known as the Navajo Guild), which produced some very fine silverwork. Even the US Government itself got involved, which leads to the bracelet here....
A very nice bracelet, with Pueblo-style wirework decoration and nice turquoise. A typical Pueblo bracelet, you might say, uncommon but not truly rare.
Until you look at the terminals, and see that there is a hallmark on one of them, which is quite unusual for a Pueblo bracelet...
On March 9, 1937, the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB) announced plans to distribute hallmark stamps to producers (mainly trading posts) that were willing to follow certain quality guidelines. The program was launched on April 6, 1938, and the stamps (US NAVAJO, US ZUNI, US PUEBLO and US HOPI, with associated numbers indicating the particular post or shop) were given to Kenneth Chapman and Ambrose Roanhorse, who were responsible for examining pieces and stamping those that met with their approval. By May 5, Chapman reported that he had stamped a total of 2,322 pieces, including 727 from the C. G. Wallace posts at Zuni and Sanders and Cedar Point, Arizona. (It is not known how many of those had the US ZUNI 1 mark used at Zuni, and how many had the US NAVAJO 2 mark used at Sanders and Cedar Point, which were both on the Navajo reservation. However, in our experience, the US NAVAJO 2 pieces are quite a bit more common.)
The program was well-intentioned, but unfortunately proved to be too cumbersome to last. The stamping program was shut down very soon after commencing, and those initial pieces stamped by Chapman and Roanhorse are probably the only ones they did. In any case, the hallmark on this bracelet proves that it was made at Zuni in 1937 or 1938, and was of sufficiently high quality to get the stamp of approval (literally) from Chapman and Roanhorse. A rare find, indeed.
For more information on this wonderful and important piece, give us a call at (480) 423-8777.
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