The White Hogan — Southwest Jewelry Shop & Marks

Name-card placeholder — historic shop-mark imagery to follow. © Turquoise Skies Inc.

Silver shop · Flagstaff, then Scottsdale, Arizona · 1946–2006 · Southwest Jewelry Guide

Overview

White Hogan Silver was one of the defining Navajo silver shops of the twentieth century. Per Hougart, the shop opened in May 1946 in Flagstaff, Arizona, as a joint venture between John Bonnell, Kenneth Begay and Begay's cousin Allen Kee, and relocated to Scottsdale in 1950. The first silversmiths were Kenneth Begay and Allen Kee.

Hougart's roster of silversmiths who worked at the White Hogan reads like a directory of its own: Allen Kee's brothers George Kee and Ivan Kee, George Kee's son Anthony Kee, John G. Begay, Kenneth Begay's brother Johnnie Mike Begay, Mike Carroll, Edison Cummings, Lowell Draper, Nicholas Gambino, Johnny King, Manuel Lewis, Sam Roanhorse, Johnson Todacheeny and Leroy Thomas. The shop closed in 2006.

In a Rosnek & Stacey interview, Kenneth Begay recalled: "While I worked for the White Hogan I stamped it with a small hogan," and noted, "While I was working at the White Hogan I started using ironwood."

The shop mark

"Mark: A hogan (first used in 1948 at White Hogan Silver, the mark was reportedly acquired from Fred Peshlakai; usually with the initials of a silversmith and STERLING HAND MADE). Note: the White Hogan Silver hogan symbol has an open roof smoke hole and has three lines crossing the building (the top line clears the door)" — Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. (2022), p. ~374.

Work produced at the shop typically carries both the hogan shop stamp and the individual silversmith's initials — the pairing is a key attribution aid for collectors.

Artists connected to the White Hogan

See the directory entries for Kenneth Begay (co-founder), Allen Kee (co-founder), Ivan Kee, Johnny Mike Begay and Sam Roanhorse. The hogan stamp itself was reportedly acquired from Fred Peshlakai, per Hougart.

References

• Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. Schiffer Publishing, 2022. Shops section, p. ~374.
• Rosnek, Carl, and Joseph Stacey. Skystone and Silver: The Collector's Book of Southwest Indian Jewelry. Prentice-Hall, 1976. Kenneth Begay interview.