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Look deeply into my eyes. You are beginning to feel a bit drowsy. If the names Spratling, Los Castillos, Margot de Taxco and Antonio Pineda mean something to you, you must visit
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Located about 100 miles southwest of Mexico City
the city of Taxco in the state of Guerrero is one of the oldest mining sites extant in the Americas. Plentiful silver deposits attracted attention from early Conquistadors.
The Aztecs founded a city they called “Tlacho” meaning the place of the ballgame.
Hernán Cortés mined tin for his artillery in the area of Taxco:
I commenced to inquire everywhere if anywhere there was any (tin), and Our Lord, Who takes care, and has always taken care, wished to provide with the greatest speed, so that I came upon by chance amongst the natives province which is known as Tachco, certain small pieces of it in the manner of a very thin coin, and proceeding on my inquiry, I found that in the said province, even in others, it was used as money; on becoming more familiar with the matter, I learned that it came from the said province of Tachco which is a 26 leagues distances from this city, and then I learned of the mines and sent tools and Spaniards and they brought me a sample of it, and at that I gave the order that they extract all that was necessary, and whatever more may be needed will be extracted, although with great labor; and even when travelling in search of these metals a vein or iron in great quantity was found by chance, according to what I am informed by those who say they know it.
—Cortés, Fourth Letter of Relation, dated in Mexico 15th October, 1524, addressed to Emperor Charles V
Taxco was incorporated in 1532. The books in the Court of Letters, Taxco's first-known public registry, go back to 1529. In 1542 the Mayor, Don Luis de Castilla, was the first Spaniard to make his fortune from the mines of Taxco.
By 1600, silver from Taxco had made its way to Europe. Taxco had become Spain's primary source in the New World of precious metals as well as a hive of mining activity. Mining gradually decreased in the area as richer and more accessible mining areas were discovered. Eventually work in the mines ceased altogether. This remained the state of affairs for more than 100 years.
As the legend is told, in 1716 the Spaniard Don Jose de la Borda rediscovered silver in Taxco when he was wandering in the nearby hills and spotted a rich silver vein. Ultimately it made his fortune, part of which he spent building a spectacular church, the Santa Prisca Cathedral. It was only the first of more than a dozen other churches built in Taxco by grateful miners.
In 1926, William Spratling, a U.S. citizen and associate architecture professor from Tulane University arrived to study Mexico and its culture, eventually becoming part of the art culture. He became a friend and a strong proponent of the work of muralist Diego Rivera, for whom he organized an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Using money received from commissions he organized for Rivera, Spratling purchased a home in Taxco.
Spratling is credited with practically single-handedly originating the Taxco silver art and jewelry industry. His own striking designs (based primarily on pre-Columbian and traditional motifs) are much sought-after today. He had an atelier of apprentices who executed pieces for him, many of whom later became famous in their own right.
In 1949, the United States Department of the Interior began an exchange program between Spratling's studio and seven Alaskan students to spark a similar effort. While the Alaskan workshop never materialized, Alaskan design motifs began to influence Spratling's later work.
Today Taxco is the world's capital of silver, with over 200 shops and dozens of renowned silver jewelers. Silver is still the most important aspect of Taxco's economy.
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Spratling pieces on eBay:
Our Mexican silver bracelet page
is here.
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