Navajo Turquoise Bracelet

While I know this is far from antique but with the knowledge base in the jewelry department hopefully someone has a bit of expertise in Navajo jewelry who can help me identify this artist. This piece has been bothering me for quite some time. Its profusely marked with not only (above) sterling marks but also an animal glyph (which I cant figure out if its a turtle or a fat frog.. or lizard?) as well as the mark "JR" (or a fancy FR?") which you think would be easily identifiable (and maybe I am just too thick to figure it out). None of my search results for all of these combinations come up with any leads. There is a "JR" artist but none of his work resembles this piece. There is another word marked on the silver (which I am assuming is Navajo because I cant read it at all). I have the matching ring to this piece as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

 

I wonder if the word you can't read is upside down and spells Mexico?
Just a guess.

 

The animal is a horned toad, if that's any help. Couldn't find it in Barton Wright's Hallmarks of the Southwest. It might not be Navajo, just a jewelry designer "inspired by" Navajo style.

 

Not enough letters to spell "Mexico" and the quality seems too high to be a Navajo replica piece plus I wouldnt expect such a high grade/weight of silver. Its definitely heavy (55g) and quality turquoise. Can definitely see the horned toad though!

 

Looks like it says 'MEXICO' to me too - here's a 'NAVAHO' [sic] bracelet with a similar border design, bearing a different symbol but the same 'JR', can't quite make out what is stamped above 'MEXICO' (hunhhh - apparently Mexican-made 'Navaho' silver is worth much more in Beverly Hills than in my area)...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-Oval-Turq...5-Silver-JR-/161697360971?hash=item25a5e9ec4b

~Cheryl

 

Southwest Indian jewelry is a billion dollar business, ... not all of it made in the USA !

 

I have 2 Navajo bracelets marked J terlin M

Just because his punch didn't catch on the s & the g .....you know it's still STERLING.....

 

One would imagine that a Navaho living in Mexico would have no choice but to add the Mexico mark to his/her work.

The Navaho/Navajo controversy is sort of settled when you make a choice between the Spanish Navajo and the English Navaho........... either is technically correct, but American academia has mostly settled in Havaho as the less affected and most etymologically correct.

 

I thought the American..........1st Nations people ......liked Navajo better !!

 

Totally possible, as that was the first European name they were known by.......but I must assume that at the core they prefer their own name in their own language.

 

Indeed: Dine or Dineh. The People. (Shades of Zenna Henderson, that.)

 

They're own language is more than the AXIS could handle......

 

That, and they were the only "tribe" that actually increased in population and livestock wealth during the 1880 to 1920 period. Part of that increased wealth was from trading livestock for Mexican silver. And after they learned silver working from the Spanish/Mexicans their success was assured for a few decades.

 

"Navajo" is the spelling used on the official Navajo Nation web site (http://www.navajo-nsn.gov/index.htm), and by the U.S. government's federal list of tribes (http://www.bia.gov/cs/groups/webteam/documents/document/idc1-029026.pdf)

It's also the preferred spelling on the reservation itself, as evidenced by the public signs and printed material, which use Navajo over Navaho almost exclusively.

Language and spelling changes over the years. Although both spellings are considered correct, "Navajo" has clearly replaced "Navaho," the latter having a more dated connotation. It's been a long-standing point of debate, but the current usage has pretty much been settled by the Navajo tribe and the American public.

And for what it's worth, a search for "Navaho" on eBay shows 1,689 listings. "Navajo" comes up with 209,644!

 

And you would think that with eBay's instance on "smart search" it would treat both spellings as the same word..............but then again, we are talking about eBay......................

 

Let's not.....& say we did !

 

Not that I would ever hold eBay up as any kind of authority or reference, I was just pointing out that the "common usage" (which would probably apply on that site) overwhelmingly supports "Navajo." And it's that common usage that really determines the state of the English language. Otherwise we'd still be speaking, writing, and spelling like Chaucer or Shakespeare.

English doesn't always follow rules that make the most sense, but it does evolve, and survive.

 

I dont believe it says Mexico simply because there is a clear apostrophe in the word its _ _ _ ' _ _ which is clear on both the bracelet and ring. Cheryl how certain are you that the example you provided says "Mexico"? I mean it looks very close but the "I" has such a strong pressed top and nothing at the bottom making it look like a "T". Can anyone interpret the word above that? I would be interested to know, may reveal more. Thanks everyone for their help! Im surprised its started such a lively discussion.

 

Hecho , Taxco, Mexico....& I've seen a lot of Mexican 980 silver.
& there's nothing about the ring that looks Navajo to me.

Imho..

 

http://leefoster.photoshelter.com/image/I0000QOW11T0UhRA The two last rings look similar style (look at that crazy bracelet). However you may be right about the 980. I just cant find any similar examples which are clearly Mexican. Which brings up another question, why stamp Navajo AND Mexico? I have seen hundreds of Taxco Mexico pieces and none are marked in this manner which is why I am a bit confused.