Catalog: Estate Jewelry: Silver: Mexican (255)

Symbols of fertility, rebirth, transformation and even immortality snakes and serpents have been favorite jewelry motifs through the centuries and across civilizations. In this Mexican Deco demi signed by the Los Castillo they are formed by silver, copper and brass, their slick bodies coiled around shimmering golden sheen obsidian. This is one of the best examples of the technique I have seen by the Los Castillo - probably because I love snake jewelry...

Fortuno Mota, a talented Taxco maestro who in the 1950s and 1960s produced many of Antonio Pineda’s pieces, signs this stunning set of modernist dangle earrings. Crafted in Antonio’s signature fine .970 alloy, the pair reminds me of slender flutes as they elegantly hang off geometric stations with stone inlay. The inlay and the beads in which the dangles end seem to be made of azur-malachite with the second component responsible for the predominantly green and brown hues...

One of the most massive bracelet designs by the Los Ballesteros workshop this vintage sterling silver and amethyst hinged bangle is simply astounding! Sweeping wire-work curves and fleshy “dimpled dot” repousse semi-spheres come together to form the bracelet’s two wings while a huge, saturated purple amethyst cabochon takes center front adding color and drama...

Originally a painter who in the 1930s moved to Mexico to participate in the country’s cultural scene, Bernice Goodspeed quickly moved into designing and selling her own jewelry out of the store she and her fellow-artist husband Carl Pappe opened in Taxco. Bernice’s work does not come up often and I am very excited to have found this repousse necklace by her...

Sleek modernism and heavy sterling combine in this Sigi Pineda bracelet which seems to be one of the maestro’s earlier creations and a relatively harder piece to find as well. Perfect finishing, generous weight, a blissful marriage of glistening silver and dark oxidation and inspired design, all features that make Sigi jewelry exceptional can be seen at work here. What a beauty indeed… The bracelet has a 6 3/4” inner circumference (clasped)and its width varies between 1 1/16″ and 5/8"...

I love pearls and when they are nested in an Antonio Pineda fine silver modernist setting, I consider myself in heaven! All the more so when it’s three glorious, softly shimmering pearls we are talking about. Graduated in size and each one a different hue, they are comfortably sitting in their precious channel, as if their only concern is to showcase the variety of nacre colors. The ring is a sz 8 1/2 US and 7/16” wide...

Possibly my most favorite Carmen Beckmann ring design (an example lives in my jewelry box), her Etruscan style domed creation presented here is an ode to wire-work and micro-beading. It rises regally above the finger yet because of all those curved, glistening surfaces, it never creates problems to the wearer like most rings that are so high do...

Hinged bangle bracelets whether gem- or hard stone-studded, wrought in shadow-box or simply crafted in bold, massive silver are among my favorite designs by the Los Ballesteros workshop. The modernist, generously wide version at hand with its impressed “nested ellipses” and its bezel-set green jaspers is a first one for me...

Hand-wrought in its entirety and a design that I have never encountered before, this early Mexican silver repousse necklace is an anonymous beauty. Its early date is attested to by the fact that it's strung on cotton thread (one of the earliest Aguilar "lyre" necklaces I sold was strung on cotton as well) and has a spring ring clasp. Not signed for maker nor metal content or origin, it is adorned by an elongated cascabela attached to the central station in an adorable yet naive way...

The combination of fine purity silver with silky, shimmering pearls is among my favorite when it comes to Antonio Pineda’s work. And the modernist floral brooch I am presenting here is a superb example not only of the renowned Taxco maestro’s exceptional sense of design but also of the quality of materials he used. I love the fluid, curvaceous body of the elongated “pod” and the tender forcefulness (I know, a contradiction in terms, right?) with which the stamens emerge out of it...

Stern and solemn, a gorgeous example of classic Mexican Deco lapidary work, the chrysoprase “mask” centering the silver pendant at hand looks dignified and at ease, completely unaffected by the weight of its ornate headdress. The hefty, entirely hand-wrought chain that accompanies it is, I believe, original to the necklace and perfectly reflects the pendant’s heaviness...

Impressive takes on a whole different meaning when the work of the Los Castillo taller is concerned - and the wide, exuberantly vibrant floral and foliate repousse bracelet I am presenting here proves the point. Continuing in the 1940s’ spirit that called for designs derived from nature in jewelry production, this piece is a celebration of everything verdant - organic in an unexpected way, full of movement, reaching for the sunlight, twisting and twirling with the wind...

Jewelry hosting carved stone hearts in silver settings was very popular in the Mexican Deco period. Teased out of jasper and agate and oftentimes even dyed calcite, the hearts are unfailingly curvaceous as if pulsing with life, their sculpturality shamelessly inviting the touch. The carvings usually dominate the piece with the silver-work providing discreet framing and even though the motif was taken up again in the post-1980 period, the later examples lack the vivacity of the old pieces...

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade and when it hands you an orphan cuff link, you have it converted into a ring. I have always been very partial to pieces of jewelry that would normally come in pairs but lost their partner over the course of their adventurous life...

Very reminiscent of jewelry created in the 1950s by Graziella Laffi, the Italian-born jewelry designer habitually referred to as “the Spratling of Peru”, this is a rarely surfacing creation of Carmen Beckmann’s. Thick, hand-hammered silver sheet that was then oxidized is used to form the bracelet’s main body. Upon that an impressive fish applique marries the piece’s Arts and Crafts feeling with the stylization of ancient Meso-american glyphs. The applique’s thickness adds sculpturali...

Who among lovers of vintage Mexican silver jewelry does not know Margot de Taxco's zodiac treasures? Charms, pendant, charm bracelets and brooches, they come in all those forms and they are avidly collected. Yet how many times have you come upon a mini, almost lingerie size, Margot astrological pin? Rare and sweet as can be, this 1 1/2" Aries beauty is irresistible. I can easily see it worn alongside one of its... "adult" versions, don't you think? Just just a tad over 1 1/2" tall by 13/16" wide...

I love the Los Ballesteros family of massive, “dimpled dot” hinged bracelets and I am constantly on the look out for great examples. Wrought in sterling silver and adorned with a big, bezel-set agate cabochon that celebrates all hues of green, this beauty is a variation of the version with amethyst that is also available on my site. The difference in the bracelet at hand is that the “butterfly” motif that showcases the stone has additional “dots” in it that take up some of what would...

Impressively long and beguilingly slick with its glowing tapering dangles half-hiding a bullet-shaped piece of black onyx, this is one of Antonio Pineda’s most eye-catching set of earrings. Simple yet visually strong lines that re-affirm the philosophy of less-is-more in the world of adornment; smooth as silk, dancer-like motion; fleshy geometry (if you allow me the word combination), all come together and become a piece of wearable art in the hands of Mexico’s modernist magician. Measuring ...