Catalog: Estate Jewelry: Silver: Mexican (255)

In the style associated with Matilde Poulat the Mexican Deco sterling silver brooch presented here is big, bold and beautiful! Wrought en repoussage and embellished with hand-chasing feathers and beads surround three gorgeous turquoise cabochons in shades of blue and green. The brooch is open-backed like many of Matl’s early pieces and a pleasure to wear and to behold. It measures 2 3/4” wide by 1 7/8” tall and weighs 17.8 grams...

A classic design for Hector Aguilar, this bracelet is comprised of a series of heart-shaped links with deeply etched details neatly arranged between two lengths of thick, hand-made chain. A very imposing in its simplicity creation, it is nevertheless a hefty, quite serious piece of jewelry. It feels beguilingly “familiar” around the wrist and conforms to every movement effortlessly. A real pleasure to behold and to wear, a bracelet around which collections are built...

Matching the impressive pendant necklace by the same maker that is also available in my store, the "warrior" bracelet presented here was wrought by maestro Anton in the "mozaico Azteca" style that the Los Castillo workshop revived in Taxco's "golden Deco" years. The profile of the warrior, carefully cut out of sterling silver sheet, and the eagle that accompanies it, is set in a sea of azur-malachite...

Maestro Rivera, known for his high quality creations in Matilde Poulat's "jeweled" style, is the silversmith signing this stunning Mexican Deco bracelet. Carefully wrought silver-work with beading, hand-hammering and twist-rope details is studded with pyramid- and emerald-cut amethysts as well as coral and turquoise little cabs...

Slick, a modernist dream-come-true, crafted with the highest quality of craftsmanship and studded with the most beautiful tiger's eye you have ever seen, this slick Mexican silver necklace was made in Taxco in the 1950s-60s...

Classic and classy this fab Los Castillo necklace will astonish you with the way it feels and looks once you have it on. An iconic Taxco piece with its cascading festoon links and its playful teardrop repousse dangles the design draws from Mexico's long Spanish Colonial tradition. Much heavier than the unsigned imitations that surface from time to time, it wears like a dream and has a very strong visual effect...

Made up of heavily “pitted” and oxidized beads, tubular links and a central medallion with asymmetrical dangles this Erika Hult de Corral Mexican silver necklace is an ode to modernism peppered with a touch of brutalism. Ric (as de Corral signs her pieces) has created a few versions of this particular design that I like to refer to as “moonscapes” and they are all a pleasure to wear and to behold. One of the few talented female contributors to Mexico’s 20th c...

Maestro Velazquez is one of my favorite early Mexican silversmiths. Based on the hallmarks on his work, he was most probably based in Mexico City and his creations are almost always in the so-called Mexico City style of repousse. Very well made and carefully finished, this figural fish brooch is also characterized by a fun, cartoon-ish air that will put a smile on your face every day of the year...

Seamlessly marrying sterling silver and stone, Enrique Ledesma created some of Taxco’s classiest modernist jewelry. The specific bracelet with its curved, sculptural “cut pyramid” links is set with warm, mossy azur-malachite in which browns and greens are prevalent. Perfect for the season the bracelet measures 6 1/2” in inner circumference (clasped) and it's 15/16” wide...

One of the most energetic Taxco modernists, Sigi Pineda enjoyed a long, creative career. Prolific and ever “on the move”, he was at his best working within the confines of minimalist design. Sigi rarely used “unnecessary” ornamentation, depending more on fluidity of lines to imply motion, colored stones to impart texture, oxidation to add dimension to what are mostly flat surfaces in his jewelry. The floral brooch at hand provides a good illustration of the above...

An inspired lapidary and an ingenious designer Felipe Martinez opened his workshop “Piedra y Plata” in 1950. His work is a testament to his exceptional talent and his commitment to impeccable craftsmanship and the use of choice materials. I love all his jewelry but I believe that he was at its best working within the confines of modernism which he enriched with references to Mexico’s archeological past...

A classic Mexican Deco jewelry design element silver repousse semi-spheres were used by well-known designers like Fred Davis and anonymous Taxco maestros alike. They come in all sizes and combinations, in all-silver or adorned with stones and glass, and they unfailingly make for stunning jewelry. In this hinged bangle bracelet they are clustered together in fours to create little florets with bezel-set amethyst centers. In the back, they are simply stacked in rows...

There are some pieces of jewelry that simply defy any effort to photograph them. And this stunning Taxco modernist sterling silver and blue spinel hinged bangle is one of them - a really tough one at that too! I have faced this challenge once before in the past and the “culprit” is available here as well, only that one is by Enrique Ledesma and adorned with color-change sapphires. Almost identical yet bearing a signature which I will suggest belongs to Miguel Melendez (the mark is very faint...

The art of "metales casados" (mixed or married metals) was practiced by several Taxco workshops yet I think Victoria was its queen. Ana Maria Nunez de Brilanti combined copper, silver and brass not only to design exquisite jewelry but also hollowware of various kinds and decorative objects. In the necklace presented here she seems to be inspired by Egyptian Revival motifs which is not unusual for her - there are at least a couple of other parures she created that tread that same path. Distinctly...

I love zodiac jewelry and thankfully so did the old Mexican maestros! Yet over the years I have noticed that no matter what their form (rings, brooches or bracelets), they are being snatched up with increasing fervor. So saying that they are becoming more difficult to find would not be an understatement, especially for rings which are an already challenging area of collecting in the vintage Mexican jewelry world. It is therefore understandable that I am thrilled to have come upon this mid-centur...

I have had this ring in my personal collection for several years now - always meaning to get it sized so I can enjoy - but I finally deciding to let it go. I have only seen this design once before, with a obsidian cab and a different shank but I really love how it looks with the “feathered serpent” jealously guarding an amethyst. Coiled around the stone, Quetzalcoatl is rendered in Mexico City-style repousse with bold recesses and hand-worked details, looking at the world out of a suspicious...

Over the years of my career as a vintage Mexican jewelry dealer I have come to love and appreciate the "mask" pieces created by the Los Ballesteros workshop. I have to admit that this was not a "love-at-first-sight" affair. On the contrary, it took me some time to realize that prolific though they might have been, especially in the post-1980 years which witnessed a drop in creativity as well, the specific workshop excelled in the production of superb jewelry centered by carved stone effigies. Th...

Based on Hector Aguilar's often referred to as the "fertility" parure, this anonymous Mexican Deco sterling silver band ring is a rare find. I love the combination of the two cross motif variations, the deep hand-chased details and the sense of depth enhanced with oxidation. Interestingly enough, though, and if I remember correctly, when asked about the specific design's meaning in an interview many years ago, Aguilar said that this was the sign the Aztec used to mark locations with gold deposit...