Authentic Native Southwest Jewelry: Handcrafted by Artists, Traders & Guilds | Government-Certified | Perfect for Boho Fashion & Cultural Gifts

Good bookThis is one of the most beautiful looking books I've seen; the pictures and the format are gorgeous. But a closer look finds that all that white space could have been put to better use with larger text and more accurate content. Older eyes will probably require more than usual magnification to read the text and the page numbers. And the authors commit the same errors that they say they wrote this book in order to correct. They sometimes provide speculation as if it's fact, and also, without citing sources. They present unsubstantiated guesses as fact. Other times there is one source only, and that source is itself without corroboration.On the other hand there is some new and important information here. The problem is that one requires significant personal expertise in order to distinguish their good information from their bad information.I'll give you two examples of these problems. The authors provide a breakthrough about Austin and Ike Wilson but also commit serious factual error about this pair of famous Navajo artists. Austin had been generally considered to use the extended bow and arrow hallmark when he used a hallmark. That was almost universally accepted as fact. But interviewing a trader who knew him revealed that the hallmark actually belonged to Ike. This resolved some conflicting information, because a few books did refer to Austin as Ike. So, the work attributed to Austin was actually made by Ike and the authors provide documentation for that.Where they go astray is with Austin. They provide their personal speculation, attributing a particular tomahawk hallmark as probably Austin's hallmark. In the book they provide no reason for this leap. Outside the book they mention in an offhand remark that Barton Wright happened to mention that Austin previously used a tomahawk hallmark, but Barton Wright had no picture of that hallmark in his books, and there are dozens of tomahawk hallmarks. The Messiers arbitrarily assign one particular tomahawk to Austin while other books assign that identical hallmark to another artist entirely, Little Joe Begay. And the quality of the work doesn't justify the attribution to Austin Wilson, either. The work of the artist who used that particular tomahawk was not of the quality one might expect from Austin: lots of crooked inlay, for example. Unfortunately the actual book fails us by mixing well documented information with weak speculation.Another such case lies in John Silver. Several books assign the star hallmark to Dan Simplicio, but without addressing that, the authors assign the same hallmark to John Silver and Vaughn's. They don't mention where they got this info, though privately in conversation, gave a single source to someone. That single source is uncorroborated, and it isn't mentioned in their book. It's a real stretch, and when they want to overturn generally accepted information they should respect the readers and the field of study too by documenting their sources..It requires considerable scholarship to read this book with the critical eye it requires, but for those who can do that, this book is a valuable resource. For those who cannot, I raise a caution flag. This book is beautiful looking, does have important information but it also does contain errors and misleading information and should be read with that in mind.Thank you !A beautiful illustrated book that clearly brings years of research for the knowledgeable consumer as well as an occasional customer of native America jewelry.. An occasional customer with the aid of this book can now shop with knowledge and purchase a verified item of jewelry. This book shows the work of many of the native American silversmiths with the hallmarks plus their history. A well documented book correcting many errors of the past. I hope you enjoy this history as well as the beautiful pictures. Anyone considering purchasing any native American jewelry should first read and study this exceptional informative book. This is more than just another hallmark book it will be a book for you to use as a reference book that will remain in your library for year to come.The information in this book is helpful, but the list of hallmarks and silversmiths is sorely lacking. There are only a few artist listed. The major artists of today's work are hardly listed. The Begays and Singers are top notch families and are some of the best known and well loved and they're aren't any hallmarks. Very limited. I was very disappointed with the info in relation to what this cost. The artists mentioned in the book should be listed in the description, so you know what you're getting. The description made me believe that there would be much more on hallmarks then there actually is in the book.Recommend for fans or collectors NA Jewelry, one of many type books that help in identifying NA Artists.A research library must-have. The hard bound book is used in nearly every Native American shop selling jewelry. It is an easy reference for looking up the hallmark by symbol, artist's name and examples.Great book---super job of important research! All fans, dealers and collectors of Native American art and jewelry should have a copy.....