Catalog: Archives: Estate Jewelry (467)

Symbols of hope for fresh, new beginnings swallows are an integral part of the advent of Spring in my home country and I grew up waiting for a glimpse of their bifurcated tails and soft, white bellies as a sign that the end of the school year and the fun-filled days on the beach were not far away. In Victorian symbolism the birds express enduring love and loyalty and the promise of a safe return back home and it is these hopes the set of Mexican silver earrings at hand encapsulates...

Imposing presence and a beautiful green stone that I believe is agate combine in this vintage Mexican silver ring by the Los Ballesteros workshop. A mid-century piece in terms of its age, the ring does, however, retain the architecturality that Deco jewelry is known and sought after for...

Sterling silver inlaid with azur-malachite, here with browns and greens dominating, this set of vintage Mexican earrings is out of the Los Castillo "mozaico Azteca" line. I find jewelry created with this technique fascinating - the array of colors in the inlay is wide and rich, allowing the same piece to re-create itself as it plays with the changing light...

One of the most talented Taxco maestros, Francisco Rivera trained in Spratling's Las Delicias and as a mature maestro he created jewelry for Emma Melendez in addition to having his own line. Rivera is one of those artists a collector / lover of vintage Mexican silver does not discover immediately...

Big, with pronounced repoussage, a series of beautiful turquoise cabs crowning the crest of the creature's shell, this vintage Mexican Deco figural brooch was most probably made in the country's capital as its workmanship indicates. This type of "high relief", textured repousse jewelry is reminiscent of Matilde Poulat's techniques and closely associated with Mexico City maestros...

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...

Mid-century mod "peas-in-a-pod" Mexican silver dangle earrings, this set is signed by Sigi Pineda and it's an iconic creation for the renowned Taxco modernist. I think Sigi was at his best when he worked with designs that contrasted niello-ed surfaces with brushed silver pearls. There is nothing classier than the marriage of black and gleaming sterling yet the textured beads add a dimension that enriches the earrings' visual impact...

Classic 1960s Sigi Pineda Mexican silver modernist brooch in a design that looks to me like an angelfish albeit rendered in the most minimalist fashion. I consider Sigi's "niello" line one of the most inspired periods in his admittedly long and prolific career. I find that the metallic black/grey oxidation applied to some of the silver surfaces adds unsurpassed depth and sculpturality, something that in more traditionally crafted pieces is achieved by repoussage and hand-chasing...

I look at this Sigi Pineda brooch and I see pine trees frosted with snow, dancing to the tunes of cold winter winds in a Nordic forest. I am sure that others out there will see something else - and this is the magic of minimalist, abstract design; the magic of Sigi when he is truly inspired. I will not say much more hoping that my photos will help illustrate your dreamscapes but will add that the brooch is 2" tall by 1 1/8" at its widest and weighs 8.5 grams...

Margot de Taxco's design no 5194, her "roses" parure, is one of her most romantic, "feminine" creations. There is something so tactile about the small silver flowers linking together to make up necklaces, bracelets and brooches that brings a certain kind of "first love" warmth to the heart and puts a smile on the face. Quite often combined with hearts and cupids, the "roses" are the quintessentially "lovers' jewelry" motif...

Huge, meticulously worked, with such detail and rich presence this Mexican Deco sterling silver bird of paradise is one of my absolutely favorite brooch designs. I have to admit that I really love brooches - I seek them out and try to find the best examples for One Good Eye Silver and it doesn't matter to me if they are "in" or not at the specific point in time. Brooches are classy; they can be delicate and romantic; and they can be bold and beautiful...

An iconic design for Sigi Pineda, the "boomerang" can be found with tiger's eye, like here, as well as black onyx, obsidian, amethyst and chrysoprase. Contrasting niello-ed against glistening silver surfaces "boomerang" pieces exude a sense of slick, unimpeded movement and the wire-wrapped cabochons bring more color and added texture...

Set of modernist Mexican earrings bearing the Los Castillo signature, each earring featuring two male profiles, one executed in silver, the second with azur-malachite inlay. Though the Mozaico Azteca technique employed here was among the innovations and revivals the Los Castillo workshop is credited for, I believe the pair at hand was in fact designed by their cousin, Salvador Teran, when he was still working with them...

For all the horse-lovers out there this majestic Margot de Taxco Mexican silver brooch is a must-have! There is something about her des. 5160 that makes one see the muscles in that strong neck, smell the warmth of the animal's mane, feel the tension as it waits for the go-ahead so it can run like the wind. Masterful repoussage, great design, deep chasing that makes the horse come alive and the patina you want to see on a well-loved, well-cared for silver brooch of this vintage...

One of my favorite sub-genres in the world of vintage Mexican silver jewelry includes those early Deco repousse brooches wrought in the usually referred to as the “Mexico City style”, the most famous proponent of which is, undoubtedly, Matilde Poulat. Quite often anonymous, as in our case, these pieces can be fascinatingly weird, at times even bordering on the surreal. Who is this bearded man with the thick facial features, his eyes cast down as if in intense concentration, and what is this ...

Sometimes things just fall into your lap unexpectedly and this is what happened with the two Antonio Pineda brooches I am listing today. First up a fun (albeit ... smelly in real life, if you are not careful) figural brooch glorifying our beloved skunk! At least, I think it's a skunk and I wish I had a more noble name for the creature. Such an unusual, tongue-in-cheek design for Antonio who is seriously modernist and quite heavy at times. Nice overlay, deep oxidation, almost out of a cartoon yet...

One of the pieces that were made around WWII, I believe, this Mexican silver and carved dyed calcite brooch is such a find! Shaped like a US Army officer's visor cap, complete with the appropriate insignia, it recounts part of the relationship the two countries had during those difficult times albeit in its jewelry version. The fact is that during WWII and due to the restrictions on the availability of metals which were dedicated to the war effort, many US jewelry manufacturers and big retailers...

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...