Catalog: Estate Jewelry (314)

Masterful figural repoussage portraying ancient gods and demons as well as luscious flowers in full bloom decorate this old silver bracelet which came to me as a mystery treasure. Not signed for maker or origin nor hallmarked for metal quality, it posed one of those welcome challenges every vintage jewelry dealer faces - to research and try to identify what a specific item is...

A nicely cast sterling silver band of nautilus shells surrounds an oval, semi-translucent piece of gorgeous carnelian in this Arts and Crafts brooch presented here. I have had this piece for a little while and was reluctant to part with it because of its tactile beauty, its warm patina and the color of the stone that brings to mind warm, aromatic caramel. I am assuming this is a native, US-made brooch because it is simply marked for metal quality and I suspect it is a studio-made pin...

I know and admire maestro C. Molina's work for its superb craftsmanship and its monumentality but I was still not prepared for this set of stupedying dangle earrings! There is big, there is massive and then, there is the pair of shadowbox stunners I am presenting here tonight...

A glorious emulation of Spratling's "Aztec Sun" design, the early Mexican Deco silver and amethyst cuff at hand combines repoussage and overlay with cleverly applied oxidation that adds more depth and drama to an already stunning bracelet. This is a generously proportioned piece so if you always craved a cuff like it but couldn't find one to fit, don't miss this opportunity...

I always preface Jose Luis Flores's jewelry by saying that, in my opinion, he was one of the most talented Taxco maestros during the town's heyday. His creations are usually modernist re-interpretations of ancient Meso-american motifs, always dynamic and quite often magnificently layered...

An elaborate sterling silver knot hanging off a classic repousse semi-sphere takes center-stage in this set of vintage Mexican dangle earrings by renowned Taxco maestro Pedro Castillo. I love Pedro Castillo's work for its complexity and layering and the modernist twist it adds to motifs derived from Mexico's rich cultural past...

Perfect for the black turtlenecks and heavy coats of winter this vintage Mexican Deco silver and turquoise bird of paradise brooch is a stupendous work of art! Not only does its sheer size stun the eye, its layered sculpturality and curvaceous repoussage invites the touch and allows the light to play a thousand tricks hiding in its recesses and reflecting off its elevations...

A whopper of a bracelet, this early Taxco Deco beauty was wrought in fine, 980 silver and has still evident the Spanish Colonial influence in its design. Bold yet simple in its constitutive motifs, the silver-work is made up of three massive curved links that are adorned with traditional wire appliques and a touch of deliberate oxidation...

Matching the brooch of the same design that it also available here (you can see the two pieces together in one of the photos here) this Los Castillo Mexican silver and copper ring is a rather rare find and I am happy to have come upon it. Weaving together the two metals in a chevron / arrow pattern, it is additionally embellished with tiny little sterling beads and has a visually interesting shank as well...

Beautifully aged sterling silver and warmly glowing copper combine effortlessly in this Los Castillo chevron brooch. I am very partial to the mixed metals jewelry that came out of Taxco and the renowned workshop excelled in their production. This specific piece with its arrow shape I find very interesting visually - just note the way the curves of the silver beads are juxtaposed to the intense forcefulness of the angular motifs. The brooch is 2 1/4" long by 3/4" wide and weighs 19.7 grams...

Not much is known - if anything at all - about Ars Plata whose signature is found on the Mexican silver and amethyst dangle earrings at hand. Bille Hougart lists an "Art Plat." in his book on Mexican silver hallmarks but I am not sure the two workshops / retailers (?) are the same. This lack of information is part of the field's reality yet it is always exciting to find a name not often encountered...

A rarely surfacing pair of stunning Miguel Martinez earrings, this set reinterprets neo-Aztec elements in a modernist, almost surrealist way. I consider Martinez's jewelry to be among the best examples of 20th c. Taxco design and silver-smithing, always a feast for the eyes and perfectly finished...

A graduate of the Parson's School of Design in Paris, Erika Hult de Corral is one of my favorite modernist designers and silversmiths in the context of Mexican silver jewelry. Spanning a few decades, her work is unfailingly of the highest quality with attention paid not only to materials but also to finishing and, of course, imaginative design. The ring presented here, wrought in sterling and centered by a scrumptious tiger's eye stone, can also be found with Enrique Ledesma's signature...

A rare, spectacular Erika Hult de Corral set consisting of two square sterling silver bangles with wood inlay (I believe probably rosewood) this pair is a feast for the eyes and such a treat for the vintage Mexican jewelry collector who also seeks out the few (but amazingly talented) female designers of the field...

Calling the vintage Mexican silver and black stone "mask" ring I am presenting here massive is not an exaggeration. It is not just the actual ring size (9.5 US) that makes it so; it is also the textured, solid setting, quite masculine in design, and the beautifully carved, stupendous effigy it houses. I am not sure what the stone is - I think it might be onyx but it could also be black agate...

Bearing the signature of Pedro Castillo this bracelet is, for me, a fusion of classic Taxco "arhaeological" as well as modernist elements. The overlay is immaculately crafted - one would never expect less from a Castillo - and the design lends itself to several readings. Is it a stylized butterfly? Two human forms positioned sideways, mirroring each other? An elaboration on ancient Mesoamerican motifs with a mod twist? Be that as it may, the bracelet has an intense visual presence that is only e...

True to the basic principles of the Arts and Crafts movement, this silver and sodalite ring brings together careful, honest craftsmanship in an uncomplicated, clear design that respects the nature of the materials used and brings out their natural beauty. I love the deep color of the stone with its veins of black and the spiderweb of white that just makes it through to the surface. I appreciate the light hand-hammered texture of the precious metal and the oxidation that has been ingeniously appl...

Sets of bangle bracelets are bound to lighten the spirit and brighten the day with their music and, if they are also studded with stones like the ones at ... hand, the splashes of color they scatter around. Made in the middle period of Taxco's 20th c. Silver Renaissance and signed by listed yet still unidentified maestros, these two came to me as a pair and this is the way I would like to send them out to their next new, loving home. Perfect to wear as a duo but also ideal to bring the vibrancy ...