I love Taxco jewelry. Just holding a piece of this wonderful stuff always feels like holding a piece of history. I can just picture an artist sitting in his studio up in the Taxco hills, meticulously crafting the piece I am holding in my hands all these years later. And who knows where the piece has traveled in between? And where it will go next? I always feel so excited to come across one of these special pieces and privileged to be able to offer it to you in my little shop.
Taxco de Alarcon is nestled in the hills of Guerrero state between Acapulco and Mexico City. Silver was used to pay tribute to the Aztecs back in the 1500s. In the 1700s, Don Jose de la Borda, a Frenchman of Spanish descent arrived and became very wealthy from mining silver. There was a lull until 1929, when the arrival of William Spratling and his designs in silver made Taxco the Silver Capital of Mexico. Spratling is responsible for training many of the Taxco silversmiths, who designed the jewelry that we are happy to discover today.
Over time many artisans trained and supported by Spratling opened workshops and stores of their own. Now considered the great old masters of Mexican Silver, Mr. Antonio Pineda along with former fellow apprentices the Castillos, Ledesma, and Chino Ruiz have produced and continue to craft some of the most highly regarded, collectible pieces of art, vases, serving sets and jewelry. Their work continues to inspire the next generation of silversmiths and artisans who now number in the hundreds.
There is a fabulous article here: http://www.glitterbox.com/taxco.htm by Sheila Pamfiloff that goes into more detail than I am prepared to do here, including some snippets about some of the individual silversmiths that apprenticed under Spratling and became masters in their own right.
TAXCO MARKS
There is much to be said about Mexican Silver Hallmarks -- too much for me to go into here. I will just hit the high points and if you want more information here are a couple of very informative websites to visit:
http://www.spratlingsilver.com/hallmarks.htm. This one primarily addresses the works of Spratling.
http://www.925-1000.com/mexican_marks.html
Pieces made in the early 20th Century will likely be marked "Made in Mexico" or "Mexico Silver" along with the purity mark, ranging from 900 to 980. Most pieces made between the mid 1930s to mid 1940s was marked 980, 960, 940 or 925. 970 was a favorite mark of Antonio Pineda. Most pieces after 1950 were marked "Sterling" or "925."
In 1948 the Mexican government established that pieces for export were to be stamped with an eagle. This is where the number system began to come into play. Each city was assigned a number, with Mexico City being number 1; Taxco was number 3. Some individual makers were also assigned numbers; for example, Margot's number was 16.
Around 1979, the eagle system was replaced by yet another numbering/letter system. You might see a mark "TC-45." The T stands for Taxco, the C is for the silversmith who made the piece and the 45 means that "C" is the 45th person whose name starts with "C" to register with his city's assay office. The silver bracelet below is marked TS-50.
So, you see, it gets complicated, but it is possible to date and identify your Mexican silver, as there are many resources out there with photos of marks, including photos of fake marks, which unfortunately, do exist.
Keep an eye on my site over the next several weeks, as I have recently acquired a couple of estate lots that contain a few pieces of Mexican silver. It takes me awhile to process these and get them listed, but it will happen eventually.
Designer of the Month:
Well, that should be obvious, shouldn't it? TAXCO silver! Not exactly a designer, but a wonderful category of vintage jewelry that bears singling out. Enjoy!
