Catalog: Archives: Estate Jewelry (468)

An extremely rare Antonio Pineda necklace this modernist beauty I am presenting here is wrought in his favorite fine .970 silver alloy, oxidized in the design's recesses and embellished with ten gorgeous, luminous soft white pearls. Cascading from an elaborate knot that forms the necklace's central station, the pearls rest graciously on the collar bone and they look fantastic against a black background. Shown on p...

Early and gorgeous Matilde Poulat sterling silver and coral bracelet in one of her iconic designs, the "paloma". This is classic Matl with the bird rendered in textured repoussage, its wings open, ready to fly away. The dove is surrounded by coral cabochons both bezel- and channel-set while small pieces of branch coral adorn the links of the chain...

A rarely coming up bracelet by Taxco's foremost modernist maestro, this Antonio Pineda treasure is wrought in silver and adorned with obsidian bars and pearls. The design can be seen in Stromberg's catalogue for Pineda's exhibition at UCLA's Fowler Museum but in necklace form and it is a pleasure to wear! Caged in bullet-shaped links the obsidian bars peer through the cut-outs, their dark power contrasting with the delicate whiteness of the pearls...

Stunning Antonio Pineda Mexican modernist silver and black onyx necklace, this too is wrought in the maestro's favorite fine, .970 alloy in a variation of his "crescents" design. There isn't much one can say about Antonio jewelry, at least not more than a few good photos can say, but let me express my admiration for the magical way he articulates his creations so as to sit perfectly where they should and at the same time showcase the design's sculpturality in the best possible light...

Dating around 1930, this Mexican Deco Fred Davis necklace in a design that rarely comes up, is an early example of "mixed metals" jewelry. Combining repousse silver with copper wire and then bringing in ripe, saturated color with the amethyst cabs, the necklace is an ode to vineyards and aromatic red wine. Though the brooch of the parure appears in the third edition of Morrill's "Mexican Silver" (p. 28), the necklace is hard to find and I am thrilled to be presenting it here...

Maestro Rivera is one of those contemporaries of Matilde Poulat’s who created jewelry in her manner and whose work I am always on the look-out for because of its quality and attention to detail. Based on a Matl original, the “palomas” (or “doves”) necklace at hand combines Mexico City style repousse with beading, wirework and oxidation...

A stunning Antonio Pineda modernist bracelet, its rectangular, slick links held together with bezel-set carnelian connectors, each one of which features a daringly protruding silver “tongue”. I love the gutsyness of the design and the mischievous sense of humor behind it but I am also taken with the rich color in the stones which changes hue as it responds to the changing light...

One of the rarest pieces of Margot de Taxco's enamel jewelry, the articulated mermaid brooch is not even pictured in Morrill's relevant book except as a drawing. Sharing the same design number as the "little fish" parures, she is the dedicated collector's dream-come-true. If one is very lucky and determined to find her, one might come upon an example in blues - discovering one in golden yellow, shimmering metallic sage green and sky blue is almost impossible...

Heavy Antonio Pineda Mexican silver bracelet wrought in his signature .970 alloy comprised of a series of with geometric links holding bezel set tiger's eye oval cabs on swivel pins. There is something very serious about Antonio jewelry - even his most minimalist of designs have a presence that commands respect and deference. Here the sturdiness of the silver "z" links is softened by the sense of fluidity in the molten browns and caramels of the stones...

Antonio Pineda cuffs don't surface very often and this specific design is even more difficult to find. An ode to the art of a-symmetry, the cuff is wrought in the maestro's favorite fine ,.970 alloy and quite substantial. The stone that adorns its widest end, rich in greens and blues, is agate, I think, but it might be a very special kind of turquoise as well. Warm patina, perfectly conveyed less-is-more attitude and Antonio's exquisite finishing are all present here to please the eye...

How often does one find an Antonio Pineda locket pendant? Not often enough and if one does come upon such a treasure, what are the odds that it’s going to be big, bold and beautiful like the rare, fantastic example offered here? Hefty and meticulously crafted, from the twist-rope and beading detail surrounding the stone’s bezel to the dramatic amethyst oval that takes up almost the locket’s entire face, to the substantial hand-made chain (by a different maker yet perfectly matching the pen...

Without a doubt the “queen” of vintage Mexican silver jewelry, Matilde Poulat was an exceptional designer and, in my humble opinion, one of the country’s artists who, in their work, expressed the philosophy of the Arts and Crafts movement. Her highly textured repoussage allows us to follow the silversmith’s hand as it slides over the metal thus affording us, to an extent, a glimpse of the creative process...

In my opinion one of the most talented Taxco maestros, Felipe Martinez worked with Hubert Harmon for a brief period in the 1940s (see Hougart, Little Book of Mexican silver, p. 105) and created some of the most amazing jewelry in Taxco's heyday. And even though I am always impressed by the quality of the silver-work, it is mostly the lapidary work that elevates his "Piedra y Plata" creations to the level of sublime perfection...

One of the few female designers and silversmiths who contributed to Mexico's 20th c. Silver Renaissance that we know about, Carmen Beckmann is reported in the literature to have worked primarily in the 1950s and 1960s in San Miguel de Allende...

Fine, .970 silver and black onyx crescents surround the wrist in this book-piece Antonio Pineda Mexican modernist bracelet. One of the renowned maestro's most popular creations, I have to admit that I love the bracelet much more than the cascading necklace of the same design. There is something fierce and assertive about the crescent-shaped links that remind me of talons. Yet there is also a tenderness in the way they wrap themselves around the wrist - just like an eagle mother protecting her ne...

Sublime is not an exaggerated description for the Antonio Pineda crescents and shells necklace presented here. This is the second necklace of this design I have been lucky to come upon this year and I am sure it will not stay with me too long either. Antonio's design flexibility, his ability to create magnificent jewelry in more than one styles is phenomenal and even though he is primarily known as a modernist, in our case he imaginatively navigates the waters of a more classic index. Perfect cr...

The “enfant terrible” of Mexican silver jewelry design, Hubert Harmon moved to Mexico in 1941 where he created some fabulous and definitely quirky, statement-making pieces. I am tempted to call the big brooch presented here “the captive of love” - and I apologize if my appellation borders dangerously on the …cheesy. But those supplicant, winged hands, reaching for the skies while kept close together at the wrist by the sterling chain off which the amethyst heart dangle also hangs are r...

Until well into the 20th c. conducting one's own archaelogical dig was not prohibited in Mexico - both Spratling and Davis are known to have engaged in personal digs and their collections were frequently enriched by the fruits of those excavations. Quite often ancient, pre-Colombian beads as well as small stone artifacts that surfaced here and there were incorporated in pieces of jewelry silversmiths made in the first decades of Mexico's Silver Renaissance. I believe the stone beads in the neckl...