The Tahe Family — Navajo Wire Work Silversmiths

The Tahe Family — Navajo Wire Work Silversmiths

In Navajo silversmithing, certain families own certain techniques. The Tahe family owns wire work. For generations, Tahe silversmiths — Leander Tahe most prominently, and Elaine Tahe in the bangle tradition — have produced hand-forged, hand-twisted sterling silver wire work that is immediately recognized by anyone who collects serious Navajo jewelry. It is not complicated work in the sense of having many components. Its complexity is in the execution: in the gauge of the wire, the consistency of the twist, the proportions of the finished band, and the judgment about when a piece is right. Getting all of that right, repeatedly, over decades, is what the Tahe family has done.

About the Artists

Leander Tahe is a Diné (Navajo) silversmith from the Navajo Nation who has produced hand-forged wire work cuffs and bangles across a long career. His twisted wire cuffs — double rope twist, triple wire combinations, heavy gauge single twist — are among the most wearable and enduringly stylish pieces in the Navajo silversmithing tradition. They are jewelry that belongs on a wrist every day, and that looks better with every year of wear.

Elaine Tahe works primarily in the bangle format, producing hand-stamped sterling silver bangles in a wide variety of wire profiles and surface patterns — rope twist, cable knit, triangular wire, square wire, half-round, flat. The range and consistency of her output make her bangle collection one of the most comprehensive available from a single artist.

Stylistic Hallmarks

  • Hand-forged wire — The wire in a Tahe piece is not extruded commercial wire. It is worked by hand, giving it a slightly irregular character that distinguishes it from machine production. The slight variance is the mark of human making.
  • Controlled twist geometry — Tahe wire work is twisted with consistent spacing and consistent angle. The geometry of the twist is part of the design: different twist pitches create different visual rhythms.
  • Heavy gauge — Tahe pieces are not light jewelry. The wire gauge is substantial, giving finished bangles and cuffs a weight that communicates quality and ensures the piece holds its shape over years of wear.
  • Surface stampwork on bangles — Elaine Tahe's bangles frequently carry hand-stamped surface patterns — clouds and eyelash motifs, mountain scapes, sun-wind-moon imagery, storyteller designs — applied to the flat face of the bangle wire with traditional stamps.
  • Clean, unadorned form — There is nothing extraneous in a Tahe piece. The wire is the design. The twist is the design. This restraint is itself a form of discipline — confidence in the material and the process to speak for themselves.

Why Tahe Work Endures

The most useful jewelry is the jewelry you reach for without thinking. Tahe wire work occupies that category perfectly. The pieces are comfortable, versatile, and improve with age. They stack beautifully with other silver, they work with turquoise and coral statement pieces, and they stand alone without apology. Collectors who buy one Tahe bangle tend to buy several — the stackability is not accidental but a feature of the design philosophy.

For collectors building a serious Navajo jewelry holding, the Tahe family's wire work represents the accessible, everyday-wear tier of the collection — the pieces that get worn while the Delbert Gordon cuffs wait for the right occasion.

Tahe Family at Turquoise Mustang

Leander Tahe cuffs:

Leander Tahe earrings:

Leander Tahe bangles:

Elaine Tahe bangles — a wide selection of hand-stamped wire bangles in rope, cable, triangular, square, and flat wire profiles. Browse all Tahe bangles in the Native American Collection.

Contact us to be notified when new Tahe family pieces arrive.