Description
A wonderful geometric bracelet and necklace by Margot van Voorheis Carr, better<br>known as Margot de Taxco. This is an original edition, not a later copy, and<br>both pieces bear the design number 5112, making it one of her earliest designs<br>(Morrill and Berk, in Mexican Silver , state that Margot's design numbers began<br>with 5100 and continued through 5790). The full stamp on both pieces reads<br>"Margot de Taxco, Hecho en Mexico 925, 5112" and an Eagle 16 mark. I find no<br>damage on either piece, and I have not polished them - just washed them in a<br>mild detergent. The bracelet is 6.75" long (inside circumference) and 1" wide,<br>and weighs 54.8grams. The necklace is 15" long, 1/2" wide, and weighs 56.8<br>grams. The latches on both pieces close tightly, and the bracelet has an<br>appropriate safety chain. 111.6 grams total.<br><br>Margot Van Voorhies was born in 1896 in San Francisco, California. By the time<br>she left her native country for good, she had survived the death of her father<br>in 1903, the San Francisco Earthquake in 1906, the loss of her mother at the<br>hands of a er in 1931 and the end of her first marriage in 1936.<br><br>Fortunately, a Mexican vacation changed the life of Margot Van Voorhies in ways<br>she could never have imagined. In 1937, forty-one-year-old divorcée Margot Van<br>Voorhies left San Francisco on a trip to Mexico City. Fate threw her into the<br>path of Don Antonio Castillo, who took her to Taxco, a Mexican hotbed for the<br>design, crafting, and production of silver objects, in particular jewelry and<br>housewares.<br><br>Soon, Castillo would become Margot’s second husband. At the time, Castillo was<br>working for William Spratling, a pioneer in Mexican silversmithing. He brought<br>Margot into the business as a designer, helping her to transform her paper<br>creations into three-dimensional forms in silver. In 1939, the pair, along with<br>other members of Castillo’s family, opened shop as Los Castillo Taller [Taller<br>is Spanish for “Workshop”], with Margot as the top designer.<br><br>After ten years, the marriage between Castillo and Van Voorhies dissolved, as<br>did their professional association. Margot went on to open her own shop in 1948,<br>taking the name Margot de Taxco, by which she is best known today. Seven years<br>later, enamel was added to many of her pieces, and this is where Margot found<br>her legacy.<br><br>At the peak of her career, Margot, who designed each piece herself, had two<br>dozen silversmiths and a dozen enamellists in her employ to execute her vision.<br>The men performed the duties as silversmiths; the women did the enamel work,<br>using tiny brushes to bring the watercolor drawings to life. To ensure the<br>accurate rendering of her jewelry designs, she compiled a book of instructions<br>and drawings, detailing the construction and finishing of each. Margot attracted<br>talented craftsmen who later went on to cement their own reputations, such as<br>Sigi Pineda, Miguel Melendez, and Melecio Rodriguez.<br><br>Many contemporary Hollywood celebrities were clients of Margot, including John<br>Wayne and Lana Turner, who visited her shop every year.<br><br>Tragedy struck in the form of a fire in 1960. Forced to move her studio, she<br>never again regained her prior success, and the business folded in 1974. Margot<br>granted several of the silversmiths in her employ permission to use her molds to<br>create pieces on their own, in return for debt forgiveness. As a result, many of<br>Margot’s pieces were re-created by silversmiths such as Jaimie Quiroz and<br>Geronimo Fuentes, bearing their hallmark rather than hers.<br><br>Margot passed away in 1985. But her talent as a designer and her influence as an<br>artist have continued to gain recognition since the time of her death.<br><br>Margot’s shop produced some repousse silver (a technique where a raised or<br>relief design is hammered in from the reverse side of the piece). But she is<br>best known for her champlevé enamel work. Champlevé is created by carving,<br>etching, striking, or casting troughs or cells into the surface of a piece and<br>filling it with vitreous enamel. In Margot’s jewelry, the designs were<br>die-struck, a process that was detailed and critical to the final product.<br><br>Margot produced many suites that included necklaces, brooches, bracelets, and<br>earrings, as well as convertible jewelry. Margot de Taxco jewelry is recognized<br>for its elegance, femininity, and variety.<br><br>There were many areas of influence that can be found in Margot’s work. Her fish<br>and wave motifs celebrated her love of Japanese art. The ornate swirls and<br>floral motifs were reminiscent of the Art Nouveau style. Mischievous<br>pre-Columbian figures were a recurring theme. Art Deco style ballerinas struck<br>graceful poses. Margot was also taken with Egyptian motifs and Mexican crafts.<br><br>Margot de Taxco pieces are distinguished by the stamp that includes her name,<br>Eagle 16 (or Eagle 1, for her earlier works), along with a production number.<br>Issued by the government, the eagle stamp was a way to identify th
