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 -

Ken Who!? Ken Belden Taxco Sculptor

So I have seen some Ken Beldin before tho not much. From what I can gather he was a a sculptor who worked outside of Taxco in the 70's. His work is usually is referred to as Tiki's - I guess cuz thats what they look like... His work doesnt come up that often (even on the specialy websites) and wonder if his body of work is limited. No references in any of my big books of silver and nada on Wiki. LMK if you have any 411 on Ken Beldin. Thanks Tia

UPDATE: Researching the Guadalupe Castellano there is a minute blurb on Ken in the Davis & Pack book: We have seen a few pieces done by Ken Belden, an American living in Tenancingo, which were interesting in color, being mostly of copper and brass and a little white metal. He is the cutodian of archeolgical stones and it is from these that he derives his motifs.

NOTE: Its unclear to me on the correct spelling is Belden or Beldin.
Davis & Pack says Belden but I swear the markings have an 'I' for Beldin.

My Los Castillo Fish - Pescado

Isnt this too cool? Its about 3 inches in length - correct markings for Los Castillo. This is on Marbeth Schon website for about $350 - No I didnt pay that much for it = lets just say I got it at a very fair price.