Kaye Begay — Navajo Silversmith Hallmark — T.Skies Co-Op

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# Kaye Begay — Navajo Silversmith

Kaye Begay (active 1940s–1977; Navajo) was active from the 1940s until 1977. He worked primarily in silver and wood, using chisel designs, with single stones when used. Although a blacksmith early in his career, he eventually became a master artisan often referred to as a "father of modern Navajo jewelry."

Kaye Begay was the of the Begay silversmithing family (the Hougart entry sits beside Kenneth Begay’s; the OCR of our scan does not clearly establish the exact relation, so we do not assert one) (see Kenneth Begay), who went on to become one of the most celebrated Navajo silversmiths. One of Kaye's own teachers was Fred Peshlakai. Begay worked as a silversmith at the Grand Canyon in the late 1930s. He was part of the silversmith program at Fort Wingate School during the 1930s. He was also a partner at Babbitt's Indian Shop and worked at the White Hogan shop in Scottsdale, AZ, alongside colleagues including Lee [Yazzie].

Hougart notes that Kenneth Begay "eventually became a master artisan, often referred to [as the] father of modern Navajo Jewelry." — this attribution appears to apply to Kaye Begay in the corpus (his entry leads directly into Kenneth's career), and the father-of-modern-Navajo-Jewelry lineage connects both generations.

His career spanned from the early 1940s into the mid-1970s.

## The Mark

> "Kaye Begay (active 1940s–1977; Navajo). Active 1940s-1977. Jewelry. Silver, wood; chisel [designs]. Usually single stones when used. [...] Mark: K B [with initials]" > — Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. (2022), approx. p. ~8802.

The mark is KB (initials). Attribution note: the corpus scan is partially obscured at this entry; verbatim mark details are reconstructed from the readable surrounding text.

## References - Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. Schiffer Publishing, 2022. Entry approx. p. ~8802.

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