Vintage Wayne Aguilar Pendant of Turquoise Channel Inlay

About the Piece: Vintage Wayne Aguilar Pendant of Turquoise Channel Inlay

This is a fantastic, eye-catching pendant handmade by Wayne Aguilar of Kewa Pueblo. The pendant is large at 3 5/8" and created with a hand stamped 1" bale so you can wear it with many of your Navajo silver pearls or heishi and coral beads. 

The pendant was originally purchased by a mom and daughter who traveled to Santa Fe in the late 1990's, early 2000's and met jeweler Wayne Aguilar. Over the years, they purchased a small collection of fine Aguilar family jewelry. 

Most of the jewelry was signed with Tony Aguilar Sr.'s "TA" hallmark. There was a bit of a question as to whether Tony Aguilar Senior, his son (Wayne Aguilar), or both father and son created the jewelry. Not that it largely matters as father and son jewelers often work side by side in family workshops, even working together on the same piece. 

I specifically asked Wayne Aguilar about this pendant, and I received some interesting information. Wayne said that he IS the one who created the pendant even though it is signed with just his father's "TA" hallmark rather than the rendition most closely associated with Wayne, which is his father's "TA" plus a hand-stamped floral or sunburst border.

Wayne said that when he first started making jewelry, he just used his father's stamp. Then, Vidal Aragon (another well-known Kewa jeweler and mentor) told him he needed to design his own stamp. Later, Wayne's father pulled him aside and said that Wayne's jewelry IS, indeed, an extension of his own, and he should just continue to use father's stamp.

This is why there is often some difficulty in strictly attributing Wayne Aguilar's pieces based on hallmark alone. Some people mistakenly believe that only the jewelry with a stamped border around the "TA" is Wayne Aguilar's. This is simply not true. Wayne Aguilar signs his jewelry in different ways. This also means that some of the jewelry said to be Tony Aguilar Senior's may actually be Wayne's instead.

We have to ask ourselves then, have we gotten too caught up trying to attribute between father and son when father and son themselves see their jewelry as an extension of each other? 

Whatever the case may be, this is a wonderful pendant and a beautiful opportunity to learn more about attribution within certain Native families.

You can see it more up close and personal in this video which I created before I'd learned from Wayne that it was, indeed, his pendant.

Summary:

Item: Vintage Wayne Aguilar Pendant of Turquoise Channel Inlay

Attribution: Wayne Aguilar, Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo)

Materials: Sterling Silver and Turquoise

Dimensions: 3 5/8" long

Signature: Signed with Tony Aguilar's "TA" hallmark (no starburst)

Provenance: Purchased in the late 1990's early 2000's from Wayne Aguilar and has been in a private family collection