Orville Z. Tsinnie

Name-card placeholder — hallmark imagery to follow

Overview

Orville Z. Tsinnie (1943–2017) was a Navajo silversmith active from the 1970s, known for traditional, heavy-gauge silverwork incorporating various stones or fossilized dinosaur bone, and wrapped wire. He received the 1999 IACA Lifetime Achievement award and was a multiple award winner.

The corpus records some early brass pieces, and that he was the son of Ann Yellowhorse. His marks evolved across his career — from an early TSINNIE stamp through Shiprock-symbol forms to the 'Orville Tsinnie of New Mexico' script used since 1980 on smaller pieces. Parts of the mark list are garbled in our scan; the forms given here are the clearly legible ones.

The Mark

"Orville Z. Tsinnie (1943-2017; Navajo). Active since 1970s. Traditional; heavy gauge silver; incorporated vari'?us stones or fossilized dinosaur bone; wrapped wire. Some early brass pieces. Orville Tsinnie shared a stamp with his wife Darlene Tsinnie. Son of Ann Yellowhorse. 1999 IACA Lifetime Achievement award. Multiple award winner. Marks: TSl~NIE (_ea~ly mark); O Z D T (conjoined: for Orville Z. and Darlene Tsinnie); TSINNIE (above a sym!:>ol o~ S~iprock); Or:-'1lle Tsinnie of _New Mexico (script, and two Shiprock symbols; since 1980, on smaller pieces); Orville Tsinnie"

— Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. (2022), approx. p. ~28394.

The mark as documented in the Hougart corpus: TSINNIE (early mark); O Z D T (conjoined, for Orville Z. and Darlene Tsinnie); TSINNIE above a Shiprock symbol; Orville Tsinnie of New Mexico (script, with two Shiprock symbols; since 1980, on smaller pieces); Orville Tsinnie.

References

• Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. Schiffer Publishing, 2022. Entry approx. p. ~28394.

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