One Good Eye Silver
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1980 item #1444174 (stock #15459)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
In the last couple of years I found myself drawn closer and closer to the jewelry created by the Los Ballesteros workshop. I am especially attracted to their “mask” pieces in all the forms they can be found as well as to what I like to call their “hinged bangle” bracelets. I consider both kinds the absolute jewel in the taller’s creative crown and it seems that there is always something new and different to discover...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1980 item #1443387 (stock #15386)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
With delicately carved features, this silver and tiger’s eye Egyptian Revival “Cleopatra” bolo tie is a small work of art that came out of the Los Ballesteros workshop. One of the best - and definitely the most persistent - Taxco talleres involved in the creation of exquisite “mask” jewelry, the Los Ballesteros used an array of semi-precious and hard- stones to create serene, out-of-this-world effigies for brooches, rings, bracelets and pendants...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1950 item #1442129 (stock #15451)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
Ethereal, barely touching the ground, light as a feather and lost in the music to which she is dancing, this vintage Marcel Boucher ballerina was crafted in the mid-1940s in Mexico for the renowned designer’s Parisina line. Wrought in sterling, she has a teardrop piece of lapis for her bodice and she is magnificent...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Deco : Pre 1950 item #1442098 (stock #15339/15361)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
Steeped in ancient Italian lore, the “cimaruta” pendant might have started its life in the world of magic yet somewhere along its long life, it became adopted as a talisman warding off the “evil eye” and protecting against witchcraft in general. The Flli Coppini example presented here dates in the first decades of the 20th c. and is the next best alternative to the impossible to obtain ancient pieces...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1970 item #1441668 (stock #14385)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
Inspired by ancient Inca motifs this 1950s Industria Peruana silver and 18k yellow gold necklace is a classic example of the best jewelry that came out of Peru around the middle of the 20th c.. Hand-hammered sterling links feature figural appliques on their slightly concave faces, the same combination of silver and gold also used to form the circular connectors...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1970 item #1441607 (stock #15313)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
I have said many times in the past that I consider the Los Ballesteros workshop Taxco’s foremost creator of the so-called “mask” jewelry. And among their best are their hinged bangle bracelets, a fantastic example of which I am presenting here. The effigy is carved out of tiger’s eye, a stone which creates a magical sensation with its molten gold, glistening caramel and rich chocolate browns...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1950 item #1441427 (stock #15409)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
A trained sculptor, Felipe Martinez created some of the most amazing “mask” jewelry in the golden period of Mexico’s 20th c. Silver Renaissance. His ability to work with precious metal and stone is astounding, the two materials becoming like one whole in his inlaid designs while in his “mask” creations turning into living, breathing figures in a deeply serene sleep...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1970 item #1441269 (stock #15135)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
Trained as a sculptor Felipe Martinez, the founder of Piedra y Plata, is one of the best lapidaries in the world of vintage Mexican silver jewelry. There is a liquid perfection that characterizes the way he fuses stone and precious metal together and the serenity on his carved “masks” seems to be flowing in from a different dimension...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1940 item #1440917 (stock #15384)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
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...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1950 item #1440402 (stock #14105)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
Early and quite hard to find, this Los Castillo silver repousse bracelet is comprised of lusciously sculpted, wide feather links. A dream to wear, I love it for the scrolled edges of each feather and the way the links alternate their orientation adding drama to the design. The bracelet measures a wearable 7" long and it is 1 1/2" wide. It weighs 52.9 grams and has a safety chain as well...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1970 item #1440322 (stock #14848)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
The smaller version of this particular design, this set of vintage Margot de Taxco earrings reminds me of elaborate woven baskets. The repoussage here is very sculptural and the beading in combination with the wonderful patina the set has acquired over the years accentuates its three-dimensional appeal. Eye-catching without being visually overwhelming, it is easy to wear and will hold its own whatever the occasion you chose it for...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Deco : Pre 1950 item #1440242 (stock #15266/15357)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
Casting of very good quality, a huge amethyst gemstone and a long chain with figural links combine in this Italian Peruzzi style pendant necklace to create one of those pieces that collectors covet and all of us dream about. I believe we have here a convergence of two Revival movements - Classical Revival in the sterling chain with its theater mask links and Gothic Revival with the two dragons flanking that amazing amethyst...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1980 item #1439903 (stock #15261)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
Big, heavy and bold, the Los Ballesteros “beehive” pendant can be found with “masks” carved in amethyst, dyed calcite, azurite, black onyx and even obsidian yet I have never seen one like the example I am thrilled to be presenting here! Very reminiscent of Old World “moon face” jewelry, the portrait in our case is rendered in a light, lemon-colored stone...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1950 item #1439902 (stock #15164)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
A design that doesn’t come up very often, these figural Mexican Deco silver earrings by Los Castillo remind me of Old World “wind” representations. I love the sense of powerful forward motion they convey with the curling repousse silverwork and the feather-like trail that the “winds” leave behind them as they sweep through the skies. I wonder what the rest of the parure looks like...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1950 item #1439901 (stock #15373)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
Beautifully executed this Mexican silver and dyed calcite "mask-in-a-feathered-sunburst" brooch is based on a similar Spratling design (if I am not mistaken). Sunburst designs were popular among Mexican silversmiths in the first half of the 20th c. - a giver of life and warmth, the sun is important in all civilizations and its portrayal took on a myriad of symbolic meanings. Here, it is the feathers (or scales) rendered en repoussage that intrigue me - a reference to Quetzalcoatl, the di...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1960 item #1438924 (stock #15247)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
Just shy of 2" long, I give you the third and last and definitely quirkiest set of Sigi Pineda silver earrings I have been talking about. I happened to come upon the first of these in early summer, fell in love with its cartoonish strangeness - I had never seen this line of Sigi's before. And since all good things come in threes, I found two more pairs in the months following that initial discovery. I am still trying to decide, however, what it is we are looking at here: is it Siamese twins? Or ...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1970 item #1438923 (stock #15297)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
I promised yesterday that I had two more of those Sigi Pineda surrealist figures dangle earring sets to present and here is the second pair. There is something as endearing as it is quirky about the specific design line - I am not sure what Sigi was into when he created these - but I find them all weirdly irresistible. Overlay and oxidation are used here too to convey the human form, its hands crossed on the chest, turning a minimalist profile away from the onlooker. What a concept! Measuring ...
All Items : Archives : Estate Jewelry : Silver : Mexican : Pre 1970 item #1438824 (stock #15374)
One Good Eye Silver
SOLD - Thank you!
A favorite designer of mine, Carmen Beckmann is one of the few female contributors to Mexico’s 20th c. Silver Renaissance that we know of. Mostly modernist, her work is known for its massive, at times, proportions (especially with her hinged bracelets) and her masterful use of semi-precious stones and gems. The star-form ring at hand is centered by a big, faceted color-change sapphire, that varies between amethyst and steely purple as the light changes. The star is raised above the similarly s...