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Silversmithing has been practiced for centuries in Mexico. In fact, Mexican silversmiths taught the Navajo of the Southwestern United States their trade. But it took an American named William Spratling to see the opportunity to build on this legacy. He did this in 1931, when he established a retail outlet for Mexican jewelry near the silver-mining center of Taxco.
Spratling’s designs borrowed liberally from pre-Columbian motifs found on Mexico’s pyramids and lifted from the 14th-century symbols that fill the Codex Zouche-Nuttal. It was open-source material, if you will, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that as his shop succeeded and imitators sprang up nearby, the designs themselves were appropriated. ...
Some competitors were actively encouraged. In fact, the Taxco School, as it is known today, was formed largely from former Spratling employees such as the Castillo brothers, Héctor Aguilar, Antonio Pineda, and Valentin Viadurreta, who brought a Mexican eye to Art Deco. Naturally, these artisans and their shops became incubators for still more generations of silversmiths.
For those who could not make the trip to Taxco, U.S. stores took the step of importing these popular goods. At one point everyone from fashionable Gump’s in San Francisco to Montgomery Ward in Chicago carried silver jewelry (some decorated with obsidian or amethysts) and tableware by Taxco designers.
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Australian historian and collector Hayden Peters' handsome site is a great resource for fans of memorial, mourning,… [read review or visit site]
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Sin embargo, los coloniales como San Miguel de Allende, Zacatecas, Taxco o Querétaro también gustan a los paseantes. La estimación de ocupación del centro...Read more
SNTMMSRM members at three Grupo Mexico mines (Cananea, Taxco and Sombrete) have been on strike since July 30, 2007, reportedly to protest unsafe working...Read more
Guerrero es más que playas, también celebra la Semana Santa; sí, allá en Taxco, un lugar oculto entre montañas, cerros, barrancos y, por supuesto, plata,...Read more
A special exhibit will feature Taxco silver jewelry from 1940 to 1970. The vintage jewelry of Taxco, Mexico is from the workshops of such artisans as...Read more
We traveled well over a thousand miles through Mexico, from Mexico City to Puebla, Oaxaca, Puerto Angel, Puerto Escondido, Acapulco, Taxco and back to...Read more
lots of sterling Mexican jewelry, cigarette lighters, buttons, wrist watches, pocket watches, religious jewelry, gents jewelry, garnet heart locket,...Read more
By JAMES WALSH, Star Tribune Twenty times over three years, Paul Giovanni de la Rosa made the long drive from Medford, Minn., to Taxco, Mexico,...Read more
POR CAROLINA G. MENÉNDEZ Taxco es de color plata. La ciudad mexicana del Estado de Guerrero tiene en este metal la base de su economía...Read more
