Taxco Mexico Mid Century Modernist Sterling Silver and Gemstone Perfume Bottle

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A beautiful Modernist-style Taxco, Mexico Sterling silver and gemstone sculptural perfume bottle, c. 1940’s-50’s

“Taxco de Alarcon” or Taxco, Mexico, located in the Mexican state of Guerrero about 100 miles southwest of Mexico City, is the legendary, centuries-old silver capital of the world. The town was originally founded in 1532 by Spanish Conquistador, Hernan Cortes (1485-1547) to take advantage of the extraordinary abundance of natural silver ore found there in several rich silver veins.

Alongside working the silver mines, an indigenous silversmithing industry arose in Taxco which came to some prominence in the 18th and 19th centuries, but languished somewhat until it was reinvigorated in Taxco by American designer and architect, William Spratling (1900-1967) who moved to Taxco in the late 1920s, creating a silver design workshop known as “Taller de las Delicias” or "Workshop of the Delights" and exported a great many items, primarily to the United States. Word spread rapidly and other great jewelry designers followed in Spratling’s path in Taxco and silverwork artists, Hector Aguilar, Antonio Pineda, Margot de Taxco and many others came to prominence by forging distinct artistic identities and styles. Spratling’s influence over Taxco silverwork cannot be underestimated, Spratling’s longtime friend, Rene D'Harnoncourt, the renowned director of New York's Museum of Modern Art, praised 'the climate of understanding' which Spratling built that contributed to the acceptance of Mexican art. "I know of no one person who has so deeply influenced the artistic orientation of a country not his own," D’Harnancourt said.

-Rene D'Harnoncourt quotation source and © Mexico Soul

“Imagine a city on a hill, the surrounding countryside brimming with the precious metal, silver. That would be Taxco in Guerrero, Mexico, situated between Mexico City and Acapulco. By some estimates, a third or more of all the silver ever mined

in the world has come from Mexico's mountains with production still rising. Mexico and silver are synonymous.”

-Quotation source and © Mexico Soul

This “bottle” is done in a distinctly Modernist style with bold hard edges and a streamlined, elegant appearance.

It looks monumental in that absent something alongside it for comparative scale it is difficult to tell whether it

is 2 1/4" in height, as it is, or two feet or twenty-two feet. The container is made in two pieces; the somewhat angular, squarish-shaped, flat-bottomed base with a beautiful round sculptural hole in it to facilitate holding it

in the hand and a large, chunky screw-off top section set with a gorgeous, very large oval-shaped greenish; yellow faceted, semi-precious gemstone which could be either a citrine, a Peridot, a topaz or a type of quartz. The bottle measures 2 1/4” in height, 1 3/4” in width, and is 9/16" in depth at the body and 13/16" in depth at the screwtop stopper and it weighs a very easy to manage 63 grams or 2 1/4 ounces. It is in thoroughly excellent original condition, particularly for its 70-80 years of age with no apparent damages to speak of and no evident wear and

only a slight amount of tarnish which can be easily removed, if desired. The bottle is properly marked on the

bottom as follows:

.925

TC11

Mexico

The notation ".925" refers, of course, to “Sterling” silver which contains 925 parts pure silver out of 1000,

“TC11” appears to be the signature of an unknown artist or workshop and “Mexico” naturally is the country of origin. Carry it in your purse, display it on a table or on your perfume tray, use it every day or not, this is an extraordinarily elegant piece of art as well as a distinctly functional object. It is a perfect marriage of aesthetic beauty and working utility, imbued with an amazing, unparalleled history of time, place and tradition.

Price $575

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Since the 1930’s, due to its rapidly growing fame and reputation for fine artistic silversmithing, tourism has also become a major economic force in Taxco. Today, the silver work industry in Taxco is flourishing with literally thousands of silver artisans and Taxco silver now enjoys a well-earned worldwide reputation for beauty, quality, durability and high artistic value. Silverwork from the now so-called “Taxco School” very often has a decidedly bold and Modernist style, as evidenced in this outstanding piece. Here a small, personal cosmetic item, a portable perfume container, has been imbued with extraordinary artistry, beauty and utility.

Modern day view of Taxco, Mexico

William Spratling, at left, with his close friend and artistic collaborator, renowned Mexican painter, Diego Rivera.