Silver Brooch - Native Amer. Mark? AR under Horse - can anyone ID?

This came into our shop recently and was originally thought to be Mexican, but I'm thinking it is Native American. Looks like an A R under a Horse. I haven't been able to find a match yet and wonder if anyone recognizes it. The piece is silver metal, non-magnetic measuring about 2-1/8 inches in diameter and weighing 18.4 grams. Thanks for any help! ... Dave

 

If no one here knows maybe try the Facebook forum (link below) a few folks there that know their stuff
https://www.facebook.com/groups/411905612155015/

 

Ambrose Roanhorse.

 

Should add that pieces found on the internet listed as Ambrose Roanhorse with a keystone mark with an A are actually Ambrose Lincoln not Roanhorse and this mark of the horse with AR legs has been misidentified as the mark of Fred Peshlakai.

 

Thank you!

 

Anund... even Wright's Hallmarks of the Southwest has Ambrose Roanhorse and Ambrose Lincoln in error.

P. 145 the "R" section, says "Roanhorse, Ambrose see Lincoln, Ambrose"
There are 3 Roanhorse silversmiths listed: Henry, his wife Louise, James and Sam.

P. 104 in the "L" section, says
"LINCOLN, AMBROSE or ROANHORSE, AMBROSE Navajo
SILVERSMITH: Specialized in the old styles of Navajo jewelry. Taught by Wilfred Jones. Became a well-known teacher and taught in Santa Fe Indian School. Many noted silversmiths were his pupils.
HALLMARK: Stamped symbol of a keystone or broken arrow point with an A inside it.
From Ft. Wingate, New Mexican region."
At the end is a pic of a keystone with an "A."

Here is info on Wright's mistake with Ambrose Roanhorse in his Hallmarks of the Southwest online:
Scroll a good 2/3rds of the way down the following webpage to the paragraph that starts with
"Some of the more pervasive mistakes in Hallmarks of the Southwest..." If someone doesn't like clicking links, here is what it says:

"Some of the more pervasive mistakes in Hallmarks of the Southwest were misconstruing Austin Wilson for Ike Wilson (we blame C.G. Wallace for starting that confusion), attributing Ambrose Roanhorse’s stick horse figure hallmark to Fred Peshlakai (with the legs erroneously forming the initials FP), and the unfortunate mash-up of Ambrose Roanhorse and Ambrose Lincoln into one individual. While Mark Bahti in his 1980 book correctly identified the hallmark of a capital A in a keystone figure to Ambrose Lincoln, Wright later misconstrued these two Navajo silversmiths as the same individual who used the A in a keystone mark. Roanhorse actually used a stick figure of a horse whose legs formed the initials AR. This error has caused the work of Ambrose Lincoln, often consisting of cast pieces with Zuni style inlay, to be sold and priced as if the master silversmith Ambrose Roanhorse had made it."
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/7565302-reassessing-native-american-hallmark-books

Here is a piece Ambrose Roanhorse silver online with this horse AR mark:
http://www.perrynulltrading.com/ambrose-roanhorse-silver-horse-head-stall-navajo-circa-1950s

--- Susan

 

Thanks for the update Susan. I saw the confusion in many of the listings I looked at for comparables, with frequent attribution of the keystone mark to Ambrose Roanhorse. Ours went up last night (#371511724334) and has picked up a bid and 14 watchers in less than 24 hours, so it looks like true Roanhorse items are in demand! .

 

Sidebar....
Y'all know how I like to polish jewelry, but in this instance, as I do with some of my own SW silver, I'd clean off any dirt and leave that rich warm dull silver look that speaks to the age and class of a masters work.

 

Here's how it came out after a bath in the ultrasonic, but without polishing:

Compare with the picture towards the top -- I think it looks a lot better now with all the crud out of the grooves.

 

Sweet !!!!

 

There is a bracelet on eBay with the Ambrose Lincoln hallmark, but the listing states it was crafted by Ambrose Roanhorse. $26,000 or best offer!!

 

You should publish this as one of those eBay guides. After all, you've got it mostly already written.

 

Why give eBay the goods ,when you can find it here ???

 

That they find it is more important than where they find it.

 

not if you want to draw traffic here it's not.............

 

Ah, I remember this thread! And was wondering how the sale went. I just found the old listing from December, written in Spanish -- although it says it was from eBay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMBROSE-ROA...-Indian-Navajo-SIGNED-AR-/371511724334?_ul=BO

 

Saw your question Figtree3 - we were quite surprised by how strong the results were. We started it at 168.00 and it ended at 687.77. Not too many things do that well these days. ... Dave

 

Congrats!