1950s Sterling Metales Casados PARROT Pin+Earrings~Married Metals Brooch Set

Description

1950s Sterling Metales Casados PARROT Pin+Earrings~Married Metals Brooch Set
Polly want a Buyer!  This pin and earrings set is signed only "Metales Casados Taxco" but is in the design that won Los Castillo the First Prize for Color, Composition and Imagination in the 1953 Silver Fair.  This design may be seen on page 90, plate VI 24 of
Mexican Silver
by Morrill and Berk.  The ingenious cubist design shows the parrot head deconstructed into a series of planes that are carefully recombined so one sees the front and side of the head at the same time.  The famous pin is pictured on page 189 of
Mexican Jewelry
by Davis and Pack as well.  (This set is
much
nicer in person than it appears in my poor photos.)
In addition to the married metals, the design incorporates stone inlay of black onyx and crushed green turquoise, which adds color and further shows off the artists' skills.  (Unfortunately most of the photos do not represent the colors well.)  Like Metales Casados (Married Metals) the stone inlays were exacting and labor intensive ancient metal working techniques that the Mid-century Mexican Silver Maestros revived and refined.  These techniques of fusing metal with other metals or stones without visible seams were likewise practiced by PreColumbian artists and require considerable skill to execute.
Combining the Mid-century Modern design vocabulary of the artists' contemporaries with the inlaid stone and mixed metals techniques of their Pre-Columbian ancestors, the set embodies some of the main influences seen in the best Mexican jewelry.  The cubist design, combined with the different metal and stone colors, gives the pieces a cool fifties look that manages to be ancient and modern at the same time.  The parrot, also a Pre-columbian motif, is simply and sparingly rendered but the artist was able to clearly communicate and animate his subject with admirable economy of line.
With the combination of materials and colors, the parrot heads really POP.
All three pieces of the set are in Very Good vintage condition with just expected surface scratches and tarnish as expected signs of age.  There are also the expected irregularities in the natural stone, including fissures and cracks, and inconsistencies in execution, that only add to their handmade charm.
The brooch measures about 1-1/8" square and the screw-on earrings are about 7/8" square.  The earrings are marked "Alpaca" on one of the findings.  All three pieces are signed on the back "Metales Casados Taxco" in a circle (the word "Casados" is inside the circle).  The signatures are more legible on the earrings than the pin but they are a set and are all signed the same (last photo).
This interesting, prize-winning pin and earrings set is a Work of Art that is striking and wearable, not to mention collectible.  It would make a terrific gift, although I doubt you will want to part with it, and will come to you in a gift box, just in case.  Showing off the Silver Maestro's skills with the difficult Married Metals and stone inlay techniques, this Mid Century Modern Cubist Parrot set is a piece of history that will make a super addition to any collection of Mexican silver, modernist design or jewelry.
Please see our other listings for more great vintage jewelry, including Mexican silver.
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.
Insured USPS First Class Shipping .99 (in a hard-sided box,
not
one of those flimsy bubble mailers) or Priority .99.  Both methods include gift box.  No additional charge for combined shipping on jewelry items.  No limit!
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