Benson Ration

Artist Profile

Benson Ration was born in 1953 into the Navajo Nation. He comes from a long line of silversmiths. His father, John Benson, taught him the fundamentals of silversmithing just like his father before him. Benson has been working with jewelry since the age of 13. He helped his father with his jewelry and watched with a careful eye so someday he would be able to create his own style of jewelry. Benson has been successful in his development of a unique style of jewelry which includes necklaces, bolo ties and earrings. He fashions traditional kachina dancers from raw silver with a coping saw. He draws his designs on the metal freehand, no stencils involved. The unique aspect of his jewelry is that you have several pieces within the necklace, for example, and you can remove certain parts of the necklace and transform it to a pendant or a lapel pin or other pieces of jewelry. Benson signs his jewelry: B.R. followed by a hoof print to denote his clan origin. Benson is related to Bennie Ration (brother) and Nelson Morgan (brother-in-law).