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.
um. ok. ma. that IS weird looking. lol
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ReplyDeletei found a similar necklace at a thrift store several years ago. it has a few more beads at each end so it is longer, and has a larger pendant in the center surrounded by 5 smaller ones on each side. stamped 980. i actually took it to the antiques roadshow when they were filming in palm springs and it was valued at about $600. like you, i love it too.
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