Vintage Silver from Mexico : Piece signed with ??

[glitts]

Alright- this one I can even tell you what it is marked, because it is some symbol...maybe

-It looks almost like a tribal fish?? I hope you can tell from my picture. If not, maybe just by seeing the piece you will know.

This could be upside down.

And here is the piece the mark is on.

Thanks for any and all replies!

Best regards-
Melissa

 

[loupe]

Melissa,

Tribal fish??? That''s a new one! Do you have any idea where these pieces came from? It''s definitely not American. I think those 5 sections linked together are little sombreros. If this is Mexican tourist jewelry it must have a stamp of at least .925 somewhere on the piece. Look at the clasp again.

Good luck!



P.S. Where did you find all this stuff??




"Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel."

 

[movie zombie]

there is a specific name for this type of mexican filigree. and there are lots of good books regarding mexican silver...and the trademarks for the different artists.

do a search for''mexican silver jewelry'' books at amazon.com and you''ll find lots of sources. also, go to a good bookstore with lots of books on jewelry and you''ll probably find something useful.

there is an antique store where i live and one of the sellers is into mexican jewelry big time. unfortunately, i don''t know her e-mail address and the store isn''t on the net....

i''ve also googled to find trademark info and been somewhat successful. there is a very large community of collectors out there and some of those sombreros are worth a bit.

peace, movie zombie

 

[belle]

is that a bit in the first pic?

 

[glitts]

Thank you all for your responses. And yes it is from Mexico. I live in AZ and have lived here all my life, so pieces like this do not seem all that spectacular. LOL I have seen a lot of Mexican silver and have a lot of it, as well as Native American jewelry, but have never seen a mark like this stamped on that type of jewelry before. Thank for all of your help.
Best Regards-
Melissa

 

[fire&ice]

Hello

I specialize in Taxco, Mexico vintage designer jewelery and a collector since the 1980''s. This piece was made for the tourist trade - probably Mexico City. The signed Taxco pieces are remarkably different.

I have attached a picture of the "collectible" Mexican silver in the post below.

 

[fire&ice]

This one is by Hector Aguilar ca. late 1940''s and my favorite piece in my collection.

 

[movie zombie]

gorgeous piece, Fire & Ice! i''ve seen ''knock off''s'' from the same period and the same area....good design is always copied. but the marks are what is important! knowing those marks keep one from paying designer price for knock off merchandise. having said that, some of those knock offs were pretty darn good.

peace, movie zomie

 

[fire&ice]

Hector''s earlier mark. Yeah, marks are what make the piece. But, - maybe because I''ve been handling the stuff for decades - whilst some of the knock offs are of good quality - I can spot the new vs old easily. Patina, color, weight, techniques, etc.

Some of the shops are still in operation. Sigi Pineda is still alive & still producing. Emillia Castillo has her own stich; but, runs the Los Castillo shop. She creates the MOST beautiful pottery and some really interesting designs.

Yes, this Hector design is being knocked off quite nicely - some with stones instead of balls at the tips.

And, I''m not exaggerating when I say that some of these signed Taxco pieces trade for more than some carat diamonds. It''s always the things that people don''t think has value that does.

 

[movie zombie]

F&I, i''d love to see more of your collection! would you consider posting pictures?

peace, movie zombie

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 7/2/2005 6:34:41 PM
Author: movie zombie
F&I, i''d love to see more of your collection! would you consider posting pictures?

peace, movie zombie

In my bio in "who''s who" threads is a smidgen of my collection. On the first page (bottom) is some of my Arts & Crafts jewelry & the ''classic'' Taxco. Second page is more of my recent love - moderne - ca 50''s, 60''s - from taxco, greenich village am. mod & scan mod. All are signed pieces except for some of the Arts & Crafts jewelery - much of which was not signed.

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 7/3/2005 10:04:50 AM
Author: fire&ice

Date: 7/2/2005 6:34:41 PM
Author: movie zombie
F&I, i''d love to see more of your collection! would you consider posting pictures?

peace, movie zombie

In my bio in ''who''s who'' threads is a smidgen of my collection. On the first page (bottom) is some of my Arts & Crafts jewelry & the ''classic'' Taxco. Second page is more of my recent love - moderne - ca 50''s, 60''s - from taxco, greenich village am. mod & scan mod. All are signed pieces except for some of the Arts & Crafts jewelery - much of which was not signed.

wow! had a look see and they are simply wonderful.

i was introduced to 50''s-60''s danish modern at the same time as 1940''s taxco mexican silver. can''t quite put my finger on it but there is something about the two that seem to me to be similar.

i have a sigi pin somewhere....i''m going to have to find it!

peace, movie zombie

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 7/3/2005 2:13:41 PM
Author: movie zombie

Date: 7/3/2005 10:04:50 AM
Author: fire&ice

Date: 7/2/2005 6:34:41 PM
Author: movie zombie
F&I, i''d love to see more of your collection! would you consider posting pictures?

peace, movie zombie

In my bio in ''who''s who'' threads is a smidgen of my collection. On the first page (bottom) is some of my Arts & Crafts jewelry & the ''classic'' Taxco. Second page is more of my recent love - moderne - ca 50''s, 60''s - from taxco, greenich village am. mod & scan mod. All are signed pieces except for some of the Arts & Crafts jewelery - much of which was not signed.

wow! had a look see and they are simply wonderful.

i was introduced to 50''s-60''s danish modern at the same time as 1940''s taxco mexican silver. can''t quite put my finger on it but there is something about the two that seem to me to be similar.

i have a sigi pin somewhere....i''m going to have to find it!

peace, movie zombie

Thanks - would love to see your Sigi pin. He''s my favorite & my Taxco focus. I''ll have to photograph some more pieces I have by him. As I mentioned, he''s still working - but his newer stuff has a decidedly different look.

Scan mod & Taxco - both are bold. both draw from their heritage. And, MANY of the pieces are of moderne design (like Sigi Pineda & Antonio Pineda - I''ll have to fish my Chato Castillo pin out of the safety dep. box - it''s some space age). William Spratling was an Architect.

Funny - very different political views - very similar asthetic.

BTW, I collect the Arts & Crafts jewelry because they are beautiful and historically significant - especially from a "collection" stand point. It''s not what I choose to wear or personally get super excited about.

I will have to get my Bjorn Weckstrom (finland) pieces out of saf. dep. THAT''S some wild stuff.

 

[glitts]

WOw very nice collection. Thank you for your response. I recently had a relative pass away, and have an abundance of vintage, antique, and modern jewelry pieces.
Before I started posting in this forum, I did not know very much about jewelry except that gold is yellow and silver is well..silver. LOL But as I have been doing research on these pieces, I have found that it is very interesting and I guess I could say; I am somewhat addicted to it.
Every morning when I wake up I cant wait to start my day, trying to figure out another mystery piece, because I am so excited to start on the next one. It may sound weird to some, but others I am sure can relate. I guess it is kind of a sense of accomplishment when I get one step closer to figuring out the history on my collection.
I have submitted a few links to pictures on this thread; of some of the many pieces I have yet to even touch base with. But please let me know if you see one that rings a bell.

http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/ncb825802.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/oqs825803.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/pwa825812.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/rhp825804.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/hrm825805.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/rny825806.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/zdh825808.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/ome825809.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/ajs825810.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/cje825811.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/uzp825813.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/edy825814.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/gwt825815.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/skm825816.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/ykd825817.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/fcz825818.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/sfo825819.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/lvk825820.jpg



Thanks again everyone for your responses and time!

Best regards-
Melissa

 

[loupe]

Melissa,

I want to commend you for your persistence. I understand how you feel about the mystery of it all. Sometimes this is how a second career or hobby starts. You are looking at a time line of your relative''s life through her acquisitions. Personally, I get really excited when someone hands me a large collection or jewelry box to appraise. Sometimes, it strikes me as very sad that I did not meet the person''s whose things I have the privilege of evaluating. If you have no memories of this person, you will find clues in the jewelry box.

Good luck and continue to post. I don''t have time to look at all of it right now. But I will browse later this week.








"Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel."

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 7/4/2005 3:18:12 PM
Author: glitts
WOw very nice collection. Thank you for your response. I recently had a relative pass away, and have an abundance of vintage, antique, and modern jewelry pieces.
Before I started posting in this forum, I did not know very much about jewelry except that gold is yellow and silver is well..silver. LOL But as I have been doing research on these pieces, I have found that it is very interesting and I guess I could say; I am somewhat addicted to it.
Every morning when I wake up I cant wait to start my day, trying to figure out another mystery piece, because I am so excited to start on the next one. It may sound weird to some, but others I am sure can relate. I guess it is kind of a sense of accomplishment when I get one step closer to figuring out the history on my collection.
I have submitted a few links to pictures on this thread; of some of the many pieces I have yet to even touch base with. But please let me know if you see one that rings a bell.

http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/ncb825802.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/oqs825803.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/pwa825812.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/rhp825804.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/hrm825805.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/rny825806.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/zdh825808.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/ome825809.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/ajs825810.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/cje825811.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/uzp825813.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/edy825814.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/gwt825815.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/skm825816.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/ykd825817.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/fcz825818.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/sfo825819.jpg
http://www.auctionpix.co.uk/users/lvk825820.jpg



Thanks again everyone for your responses and time!

Best regards-
Melissa

Curious - the pics seem to be generated from the UK; yet, most of the pieces are either native american or mexican. Was this someone who traveled the US or lived in the US?

None are recognizable designer taxco pieces. However, the mark you posted in pic #825809 is the mexican registry mark. It is an eagle w/ a number assigned to the maker. The registry "eagle" mark (sometimes refered to as a bell) was implemented sometime in the late 1940''s for silver shops to bond and guarantee that the silver content was at least 925/1000 (our sterling standard). It was used until sometime in the mid to late 1960''s and then some up until 1980 when a new registry mark was implemented (TA-#, TM-#, etc - denotes Taxco shops - ME-#, etc. denotes Mexico City). It was a pretty loosey goosey assignment of numbers & was borrowed from time to time. I couldn''t see the number inside; but, if you clarify, I could give you at least a cast of suspects that used that particular number.

 

[glitts]

The pictures being posted out of the UK has no relavence. It is just the site I use to upload my photos to the web. These peices come from a person who lived most of their childhood on the east coast then lived out their adulthood in Arizona. Thanks for taking a look at the pictures fire&ice. I have just submitted a new post on a Taxco piece I found over the weekend.


Best Regards-
Melissa