Rare Navajo Silver Butterfly Pins by John Silver

Although without hallmarks, these three pins are clearly the work of John Silver, an early Navajo silversmith. Each of the pins exhibits excellent craftsmanship, and is exemplary of the fine hand-forming and hand-stamping his distinctive butterflies are known for. However similar in style, each butterfly has unique intricate, hand-tooled details. John Silver's work, and butterfly pins, are well-documented, although little is known about this early Navajo master of silversmithing. Later in his career, he used a star hallmark, but he produced many pieces without a hallmark. These early examples of his work date to the 1930s. The largest pin is 3" in height and the other two are 2 3/4" in height, and all three measure 2 1/2" in width. Please note that the center pin has sold.