Some experiences should stay human.  —  A 501(c)(3) preserving authentic Native American + Southwestern silversmithing.
Co‑Op
A Field Guide to Southwest Jewelry · by Mateo James

Initials Lookup Guide: How to Go from Stamped Letters to a Named Southwest Silver Artist

← Field Guide

Initials Lookup Guide: How to Go from Stamped Letters to a Named Southwest Silver Artist
Southwest Jewelry Field Guide — Initials Lookup Guide

To identify a Southwest silver hallmark from initials, locate the stamped letters on the piece, then search the A–Z directory by those initials to find all documented artists who used that mark. Compare the documented mark description in each artist's entry — the enclosing shape, letter style, era, and any distinctive characteristics — against the physical stamp on your piece. Many artists share initials; the comparison step is not optional.

Mateo's Field Notes

The initials lookup problem is real and recurring. Collectors encounter two or three stamped letters on the back of a bracelet and want a name. The challenge is that the same initials appear across multiple artists — sometimes many. F.P. alone covers Frank Peshlakai, Frank Patania Sr. (of the Thunderbird Shop), and additional F.P. holders documented in Hougart. The letters alone do not resolve the question. The letters plus the documented mark description — how the P is formed, whether there is a cartouche, what the approximate date of manufacture appears to be — narrow it considerably.

Hougart's 5th edition (2022) is the reference standard, and the entries in this directory are built from it. Each artist entry carries the verbatim documented mark description, the page citation, and any caution notes relevant to attribution. The method for working from initials to identity is:

Step 1 — Find all candidates. Search the directory by initials. The A–Z index and mark-wall grid are both organized to support initials-first lookup. If your mark is two letters, expect multiple candidates. Three-letter initials narrow the field significantly; four or more are often unique.

Step 2 — Compare documented mark descriptions. Read each candidate's mark entry. Look for: the presence or absence of an enclosing shape (cartouche, circle, oval, diamond); the letter style (block vs. script, serif vs. sans-serif); whether one letter is larger or nested inside another; any additional element (a number, a small symbol alongside the letters). These details distinguish artists who share initials.

Step 3 — Cross-check era. A mark documented as "used from the 1970s onward" cannot belong to a piece with construction characteristics consistent with the 1940s. Bedinger's 1973 survey and Adair's 1944 fieldwork provide era anchors. See Dating Jewelry by Construction for the construction-based era indicators.

Step 4 — Acknowledge residual uncertainty honestly. If two candidates remain after steps 1–3, the honest answer is "consistent with artist A or artist B — further evidence needed." The directory flags cases where this ambiguity is structural rather than resolvable.

Case Study: The F.P. Problem

Frank Peshlakai — active from the early twentieth century, documented by Adair in 1944, a foundational figure in early Navajo silversmithing — used an F.P. mark. (Hougart 5e, relevant entry) Frank Peshlakai's mark is the most searched F.P. in the field and also the most forged. (See Fake and Forged Hallmarks for the documented forgery context.) Frank Patania Sr., founder of the Thunderbird Shop in Santa Fe, used F.P. in a different form — typically with a cartouche or distinctive letterform — and his family continued variations of the mark across three generations. Patania's mark research has its own dedicated competitor literature; the Thunderbird Shop's provenance is well-documented. A piece with F.P. requires distinguishing: which F.P. form is present, what the construction characteristics are, and whether the claimed attribution carries any supporting documentation beyond the mark alone.

Shared-Stamp Couples and Family Marks

A specific complication documented in Hougart: some couples used a shared stamp. When a husband and wife both worked silver and used the same mark, the stamp does not identify which maker produced a given piece. The directory flags known shared-stamp relationships with an explicit caution note and, where Hougart documents it, the names of both makers associated with the mark.

Family marks present a related issue. Multiple generations of the same family sometimes used the same or similar stamps. The Patania FP mark evolution across three generations is the most documented case; the Leekya family in Zuni is another. When the corpus documents generation-specific mark variations, those distinctions are recorded in the individual entries.

Collector's Handbook: Working from Initials

  • Record first. Before researching, write down exactly what you see: the letters (in the order they appear, not alphabetized), any enclosing shape, the approximate size, and whether the letters are stamped or engraved.
  • Two-letter marks are the hardest. The more letters, the more specific the identification. Two letters are shared by many artists; three narrows significantly; four or more is often unique or very nearly so.
  • Cartouche shape is a real differentiator. A rectangular cartouche, an oval, a diamond — these are documented per artist in Hougart and carry meaningful discriminating power. Don't skip this detail.
  • F.P. is the most contested mark. Frank Peshlakai and Frank Patania Sr. are both documented F.P. holders. Peshlakai's marks were forged. Patania's family used FP across three generations with documented variations. Any F.P. piece deserves careful attention before an attribution claim is made.
  • Shared stamps require extra care. The directory marks known shared-stamp couples clearly. A shared stamp cannot attribute a piece to one maker over another by the mark alone.
  • The directory is the reference, not the final word. Hougart 5e covers 1,200+ artist biographies; the corpus is large but not exhaustive. If initials yield no match, the artist may be undocumented, or the mark may be a shop stamp or a non-Native maker of Southwestern-style work.

References

  • Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. (2022). (Entire directory structure; specific pages per artist entry.)
  • Adair, John. The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths. University of Oklahoma Press, 1944.
  • Schaaf, Gregory. American Indian Jewelry I: 1,200 Artist Biographies. CIAC Press, 2003.

Related Entries

The flagship hallmark guide: How to Identify Hallmarks. For the F.P. forgery context: Fake and Forged Hallmarks. For dating by construction to narrow era: Dating Jewelry by Construction. For what to do with unsigned pieces: Unsigned and Unmarked Jewelry. Frank Peshlakai's artist entry: Frank Peshlakai. Browse authenticated Southwest silver at tskies.com →