Antonio Exhibit To Open in New Mexico

How Cool!! I saw this on another website but I'm sure its on the Fowler Museum home page as well...Information about this exhibit is featured in an article in the National Jeweler:
http://www.nationaljewelernetwork.com/njn/content_display/fashion/jewelry-fashion-reports/e3ie935cc06a4035022a2172825a4ae9895

Nearly two hundred examples of Antonio Pineda’s acclaimed silver work will be displayed in Silver Seduction: The Art of Mexican Modernist Antonio Pineda, a traveling exhibition opening at the Museum of International Folk Art in Sante Fe, N.M. on June 4, 2010.

RECEPTION INFORMATION: Opening Night Reception hosted by the Women’s Board of the Museum of New Mexico from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. FREE

From the Carol Berk Collection?! Really?

OK so this Spratling bracelet is currently listed on eBay - the seller is silverborders. According to the item description, the provenance for this item is the CAROL BERK COLLECTION. So is Carol really selling her items? Has anyone heard any thing about that? I'm surprised cuz if you read her books she definitely has a passion for the good Taxco...How can you part with it?
I just cant imagine - Just today I visited my daughter at work - she was wearing the most amazing sterling Taxco necklace - Of course, it was an Antonio - - and on extended loan to my kid - - but I could never actually permanently part with it...

Here is the link to the CAROLE A. BERK Homepage - she does have wonderful items available - most items are call for prices.
http://www.caroleberk.com/index.htm

Some of My Favorite Web Sites For TAXCO Shopping

OK so I dont usually like to share my favorite shopping haunts - I like to ck em out just to see whats out there and the current prices (kinda like comps when you're buying a home LOL!).

These are in no particular order or preference - its just what I can remember:

SILVER HUNTRESS
Good Selection with exceptional descriptions and appreciation for Silver
http://www.silverhuntress.com/artists.html

MAESTROS DE TAXCO
They do the highend shows across the country - ck their calander as my friend Katina insists they ALWAYS have the BEST stuff.
http://www.maestrosdetaxco.com/

LA JOYERIAYou cant miss Sheila's taste for the good stuff in Taxco jewelry.
http://www.glitterbox.com/joyeria.htm

PATINA
Always a good stop for shopping Taxco.
http://www.trocadero.com/patina/

SASSYS CLASSICS
Great selection and easy layaway - watch the pricing tho - its different from other sites...
http://www.sassyclassics.com/mexico_mexican_sterling.htm

DEJA VOODOO
See my previous posts about this site - super cool sterling from several periods and countries. FYI they LOVE American Modernist Midcentury items.
http://www.deja-voodoo.com/

K BUENO
Kim at K Bueno is great - her prices are good and I have bought stuff from her.
http://www.kbuenovintage.com/

ESTATE 925
They have a Hubert Harmon. How cool is that!?
http://www.trocadero.com/Estate925/catalog/Estate_Jewelry:Silver.html

And of course always ck your own local antique shows, shops, and estate dealers.
I have the sorry luck that the estate dealer I know likes and keeps Taxco stuff - Darn! The search continues...Let me know if you found anything cool.K

Recent Acquisition - ANTONIO

WoW! Super nice modernist designed by the master Mr. Pineda - Properly marked crown with silver content of his ususal 970. I have the matching bracelet but its a knockoff - despite that its nice and I plan to hear them together - Well, if I ever leave my house! LOL

Art of the Americas 26th Annual - Marin County

SAN FRANCISCO TRIBAL ARTS WEEKEND February 12–14, 2010 The San Francisco Tribal & Textile Arts Show joins with the Marin Show bringing together more than 300 National and International Dealers to the San Francisco Bay Area to create the best tribal arts experience in the world.
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My friend has raved about this show for years. Finally, I got to go and ck it out for myself. I know that the emphasis is on Native American and Indian/Dead Pawn jewelry but I also know that every once in a while in that sea of sterling silver, there is inevitably some nice Mexican Sterling. Sure enough I was not disappointed and even met the folks from Deja Voodoo (ck their websit n da Gov't Mule song by same name). I spent sometime in their booth before finally moving on to oohing and aaahing Sassy and her vintage Mexican GOLD Oaxacan earrings. These are very rare - so she was very sweet, kindly waves me behind her table and she has a small SHOE BOX full of them!! She says she goes to Mex to buy them - they were soo awsome but at a $600 starting price it was too much for me. I was content with the ooogling.

I did snag a Los Ballesteros Necklace with Lapis or sodalite - an older piece that looks Modernist to me.

I also saw several Spratling, the HA Georgia O'Keefe belt, one or two Antonios - Oh, no wait, those were mine that I was wearing LOL!! Well, Deja Voodoo did have a couple at their booth and currently on their website.

Overall, it was a very good show and I was pleased with the set up and presentation - that and I didnt have to drive....

HOT! Hector Aguilar -

OK so this bracelet just closed on ebay and it went for the staggering amount of just over $6,500 - - I heart the old and very vintage Hector Aguilar but the final price on this is soooo crazy. I talked with my friend about what Taxco designers are going for and we are surprised that its skyrocketing even tho its a bad economy. Not sure if you watch Antiques Roadshow but even the appraiser there said 'buy buy buy'. So I keep l@@king for that next good buy...Of course you saw my obscure Guadalupe Castellanos - I am so pleased with that purchase....

Guadalupe Castellanos Grotesque & Rare

You dont know how lucky you are to be one of my followers. This is SOO obscure that you have to pull out the definitive book on Mexican Jewelry, of course the one by Davis & Pack. What is so interesting is that according to Davis & Pack, this designer had no makers mark or designer mark....OK so how do you know its really him if there is no mark?? Yeah, yeah, I know. I am a stickler for markings. Of course even marked items can be fake (see Phyliss Goddard). So the fact there is no mark does not detract from this particular desginer who is described by Davis & Pack as grotesque, using a mix of both sterling and copper. His overly large pieces are distinctive. Having shopped for several decades this was the first Guadalupe Castellano I have seen - clearly identified and pictured in Davis & Pack (page 206). I just had to share it with you - - Oh yeah, my kid rolled her eyes and said it bordered on hideous - you see if it were actually hideous, it might be more wearable. LOL.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the Davis & Pack "In 1938, writitng for a Mexican art magazine, William Spratling...mentioning five men. One of those was Guadalupe Castellanos who lives in Iguala but sells his work in Taxco and Acapulco...[h]e does large primitive-looking pieces. He darkens all his silver and often combines it with copper, leaving only a few burnished spots.
His chains are heavy and his beads are never just balls, they are flattened, fluted, or melon shaped.

In The Style Of...

So here is one of my pet peeves (the list is very long). So I really hate it when I see FRED DAVIS, SPRATLING, MARGOT or ANTONIO in the Title listings - whether its Ebay or any website seller list then when you actually read the description and see the markings its NOT what it purports to be.
So here are some of my favorits -
In the syle of...
In the manner of...
Attributed to (careful with this one)

I think the reason I really dislike it is because the seller is LYING - plain and simple. Why cant they just say its well made from the Taxco school? Because its a scam to fool the buyer that may fall for their lie so they can simply make a few bucks. Its too bad really - sometimes I think the seller really doesnt know and didnt do the proper reseearch. But mostly they just want to sell stuff for the most $$. Buyer beware I guess.

OK so I just acquired a fabulous necklace - that I paid way too much for but evidently I had to have it.
That will be the next post - see you then!!

I always have to look at the MARKINGS -