Taxco Piece marked with

[glitts]

I just found this interesting piece this past weekend, and was so excited to post it here, couldn''t wait to see what everyone would have to say. It is an abalone inlay, possibly mother of pearl. The back is marked, "Taxco Mexico 940" which surrounded the number "5". But I have been doing a little research lately *blush* and was wondering; could that be a "G" in script? And if so did Damaso Gallegos ever hallmark pieces with only a "G"? My second question is; if this "5" is a NUMERICAL MEXICAN "EAGLE" MARK, can it stand alone as just a number without being inside an eagle or a bell? And if so, is this Chato Castillo''s work, he used the number 5?
Oohh oohh oohh... I am so excited to here what everyone has to say!!

Here are some images of the piece:

Best Regards-
Melissa

 

[fire&ice]

abalone/MOP sort of interchangable for mex. jewelry. The mark is not that of D. Gallegos. His is a script upper case DG that looks more like DS. The mark is probably a lower case "g' & is unidentifiable. A book you may want to consider getting is "The Little Book of Mexican Silver Trade and Hallmarks" by Billie Hougart. Though many inaccuracies, it's the biggest reference on mex. hallmarks. It's hard to be accurate w/ mex marks as a contant.

Happy Hunting!

edited to add: the 940 denotes a silver content of 940/1000 parts sterling. But, to even complicate matters

, since there is no registry mark, it may or may not be. At the end of the day, much of the Taxco jewelry is folk art.

 

[movie zombie]

speaking of mexican folkart: did anyone besides me notice this one?

http://www.madison.com/tct/features/stories/index.php?ntid=35762&ntpid=2

peace, movie zombie