Travelers love their vacation mementos! Certain objects represent cultures so well. In the case of jewelry, one Mexican city is beloved for its adornments, which have branched out beyond borders and into luxury department stores here in the States. Taxco, Mexico, is synonymous with Mexican silver and the epicenter where great artisans began their creations for the tourist trade. Generations of Mexican Riviera revelers have collected the “plata” and semi-precious stone accessories for which the city is known. However, a more accurate description of Taxco jewelry is wearable art.
The Artisan Silversmiths of Mexico
The city of Taxco de Alarcón, better known as Taxco, Mexico, was a mining center during pre-Columbian times. Located between Acapulco and Mexico City, the silver derived from the land was used in ancient Aztec amulets long before it adorned Mexico’s tourists. However, an American tourist brought the Taxco artisans into vogue. William Spratling was an architect and artist from New York who traveled to Mexico in 1926 and befriended many of its inhabitants. He saw the influx of the tourist trade and recognized the opportunity it presented. After being trained by local artisans to craft silver jewelry, he hired a team of talented apprentices. Those apprentices grew to be the biggest names in Taxco jewelry-making history. Today, pieces marked with Castillo, Pineda, Aguilar, Ledesma, and Melendez stamped inside are highly sought-after collectibles.
Taxco silver production boomed during World War II because Europe wasn’t producing luxury goods. High-end retailers such as Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Gump’s, Nieman Marcus, and Tiffany & Co. all purchased from Taxco jewelry designers. The little city of Taxco soon became as popular of a destination as Paris, with socialites flocking to the shops for their signature piece of silver. Today, those vintage designs have reemerged on the secondary market as well-heeled travelers’ estates go to auction or liquidate through estate sales.
Taxco Jewelry Motifs and Features
If you peek into the many shops dotting the ports along the Mexican Riviera, gleaming examples from Taxco artisans shine from glass showcases to this day. Taxco’s distinct look incorporates animals you would see depicted on the walls of ancient Pre-Columbian temples. For example, serpents, fish, turtles, and birds are constants in their designs, as are abstract faces. Simple shapes such as discs, balls, and ropes are also integrated.
The composition of the bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, and brooches can include many semi-precious stones like obsidian, turquoise, and amethyst. The most common earthly element the artisans showcase in their work is mother-of-pearl or abalone shell, which they delicately inlay into pieces or tile, layer upon layer, constructing a glistening creation. The resulting masterpieces are modernist, leaning toward art deco and abstract mid-century or brutalist styling, with heavy cultural influences.
Large, ornately detailed cuff bracelets with flourishes engulfing a quarter of your arm are typical of Taxco jewelry designs. The architectural construction allows for an easy fit, with hinges enabling the cuff to open and cling effortlessly. Some bracelets come with sturdy pin-and-chain closures to keep the heavy silver adornment in place and safe from loss. And then there are the serpent necklaces that are articulated, linked to circle the neck with the serpent biting its tail to enclose it. Antonio Pineda was known for hiding the clasps of his bracelets and necklaces within the design to appear invisible.
Mid-Century Culture Embraces Taxco Silver As Its Own
The resurgence of mid-century designs with their sleek, clean lines caused the price of vintage Taxco to skyrocket for a time, as the overall look of Taxco jewelry resonates with the aesthetic. William Spratling is even referred to as a modernist now. The chunky, often oversized silver pieces indicative of the town are more statement pieces than the typical bangle or choker necklace. The silversmiths artistically crafted their offerings with simultaneously subtle and stunning detailing.
The Taxco designers also crafted sculptural table-setting accessories. Elaborate pitchers with bird handles, candleholders, bowls, tea services, flatware, and serving platters are some of the additional items for which Taxco is known, aside from jewelry.
Identifying Taxco Jewelry Designer’s Pieces
Taxco jewelry makers generally stamped items with their origin (either “TAXCO” or “MEXICO”) and the fineness of their silver, such as .925, .970, and .980. Additionally, the Mexican government required items made between 1948 and the 1980s to feature an “eagle” mark containing a unique number ascribed to each maker. Sellers occasionally misidentify these eagle marks as a bell shape because of their small size.
Some Taxco designers used other distinctive marks, such as their names, initials, or shop logos. Many reference sites have compiled marks for Taxco artists, such as WorthPoint®’s Marks database, with hundreds of examples of stamps on metal and jewelry items made in Taxco. Another notable reference is www.925-1000.com. However, some Taxco jewelry items are unmarked.
Tourists can seek Taxco jewelry from the various Mexican Riviera port cities in a treasure hunt for a keepsake of their travels. However, when I went to Cabo San Lucas in 2018 in search of a specific pendant of Taxco silver encasing a black pearl, the experience was not at all welcome. I found myself locked inside a shop while the owner ran from store to store along the avenue looking for something fitting my request. I asked if I could leave, and the two men blocking the exit demonstratively said no. They never found what I requested, so eventually, they opened the door, allowing me to escape onto my cruise ship.
Discovering a new piece for my collection is so much easier through an online auction or stumbling across it at an antique fair or sale, and it is decidedly just as enriching. In the end, it’s the art that is clasped around my arm that brings me joy. Its rich history is apparent in every hand-crafted detail of the Taxco jewelry.
Want to know more about Mexican jewelry and prominent Taxco designers? WorthPoint has a wealth of Dictionary articles explaining the history and marks of jewelry makers like William Spratling, Valentin Vidaurreta, Hector Aguilar, Antonio Pineda, and more.
Christine Douglas is an Accredited Estate Liquidator with the American Society of Estate Liquidators and a Graduate of the Asheford Institute of Antiques. In conjunction with owning J and C Estate Sales based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she is a 2022 Communicator Awards winner for her work as Associate Editor of 110° Magazine in Brentwood, CA.
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