Gary Reeves — Diné Silversmith & His Marks

1962–2014, Gallup, New Mexico. Navajo. The middle brother — and, by the trade's own count, one of the most recognized names in the family.

Gary Reeves picked up silver at twelve. He learned it from his older brother David, and by the time he was done he'd become — in the plain words of the traders who carried him — one of the most recognized names in Navajo jewelry. His work sits in the Heard Museum, and his showcase was a fixture at Perry Null's trading post in Gallup. He worked the family's Navajo Revival style — early-twentieth-century Navajo forms reworked — and filled that old silver with dense stampwork set against high-grade turquoise, the same language his younger brother Sunshine Reeves would carry to a "king of turquoise" reputation. Three brothers, one bench tradition; Gary was the middle of it.

The Marks

Here's a gift for collectors: you can date a Gary Reeves piece by its stamp, because his mark changed five times across his career. It ran, in order:

1. "G.REEVES" — the earliest.
2. "greeves" — in script.
3. "GARYREEVES" — block letters, used for about a year.
4. "GReeves" — back to script.
5. "GReeves" with a star above it — his final mark.

Read the mark and you've placed the piece in his timeline.

The Work & The Standing

Gary began silverworking in 1974 and worked steadily until his death in July 2014. His forms ran the traditional Navajo range — cuffs, rings, buckles — built in the engraved-and-stamped revival style the Reeves name is known for, set with quality turquoise. Trade sources credit him with numerous awards over his career (the specific honors aren't itemized in the public record, so we'll leave the standing general), and his sustained presence at an established Gallup trading post speaks to a reputation earned close to the reservation, on the makers' own ground.