ICONIC Antonio Pineda Taxco Sterling Silver & Onyx Matchstick Parure

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ICONIC Antonio Pineda Taxco Sterling Silver & Onyx Matchstick Parure

About the Item

For sale is the most iconic and breathtaking matching set of jewelry from the golden Taxco period in Mexico created by the renowned silversmith Antonio Pineda (1919-2009). Given the name Matchstick because its trapezoidal design elements that resemble matchsticks from that era, the set, rare to find complete, is a masterpiece of Art Deco inspired modernist design and the best of Pineda. All pieces are illustrated in Silver Seduction: The Art of Mexican Modernist Antonio Pineda, the catalogue that accompanied a major retrospective of Pineda’s art at the Fowler Museum at UCLA in 2008 and 2009. Here is compelling text about Pineda from the exhibition website: In the mountain town of Taxco in Mexico’s state of Guerrero, large-scale mining can be dated to the sixteenth century, and silver is a way of life. In the years following the Mexican Revolution (1910–20), jewelry and other silver objects were crafted there with an entirely innovative approach, informed by modernism and the creation of a new Mexican national identity. Today, at the age of 89, Antonio Pineda is one of two living members of the Taxco School and is recognized as a world-class designer and a Mexican national treasure. Nearly two hundred examples of Pineda’s acclaimed silver work will be displayed in Silver Seduction: The Art of Mexican Modernist Antonio Pineda, a traveling exhibition debuting at the Fowler Museum Aug. 24, 2008. Significantly, given Pineda’s many accomplishments and international renown, he identifies himself primarily as a taxqueño, or Taxco, silversmith. From its inception, the Taxco movement broke new ground in technical achievement and design. While American-born, Taxco-based designer William Spratling has been credited with spearheading the contemporary Taxco silver movement, it was a group of talented Mexican designers who went on to establish independent workshops and develop the distinctive “Taxco School.” These designers incorporated numerous aesthetic orientations—Pre-Columbian art; silverwork, religious images, and other artwork from the Mexican Colonial period; and local popular arts—merging them within the broad spectrum of modernism. Pineda himself is lauded for his bold designs and ingenious use of gemstones. Silver Seduction traces the evolution of his work from the 1930s–70s, and includes more than fifty each of necklaces and bracelets, as well as numerous beautiful rings, earrings and diverse examples of his hollowware and tableware. All of the works feature Pineda’s hard-to-achieve combination of highly refined execution and hand-wrought appeal. Pineda’s jewelry is especially known for its elegant acknowledgment of the human form. It is often said that a Pineda fits the body perfectly, that it feels right when it is worn. So, for example, a thick geometric necklace that might at first glance seem too weighty or rigid to wear comfortably is, in fact, faceted, hinged, or hollowed in such a way that it gracefully encircles the neck or drapes seductively down the décolletage. In addition, no other taxqueño jeweler used as many costly semiprecious stones or set them with as much ingenuity, skill, and variety as did Pineda. Only the most talented of silversmiths could master the unique challenges posed by setting gemstones in silver at the high temperature necessary to work the metal. Pineda, however, managed to set gems with as little metal touching them as possible, giving them a free or floating look while still holding them firmly in place. In Pineda’s hands, some stones were embedded; rows of gems were set close together to emphasize the structural lines of a design; or stones were cut to fit irregular shapes in a design. Pineda often used cultured pearls, large amethyst drops, and onyx in his designs, many examples of which are on display in the exhibition. The Set The set consists of a necklace, bracelet and earrings made of sterling silver and onyx. The Fowler catalogue does not specifically date the design or manufacture of this set but it is accepted that the design dates from the late 1950s or early 1960s. The marks on all three pieces include elements (the Antonio crown) that are the date mark of Pineda from 1953 onwards. The necklace is marked with the Antonio crown, the eagle, STERLING MEXICO, 970, YY and 436. Its internal circumference is approximately 16”. It weighs 165 grams (5.82 oz). It is in excellent vintage condition with light scratching consistent with its age. An illustration of the necklace can be found on page 120 of the Fowler Museum catalogue, item number 141A. The bracelet, a tour-de-force of intricate silver joinery that seems unrivaled in Pineda’s work, is marked with the Antonio crown, the eagle, SILVER, MADE IN MEXICO, and ZZ514. Its internal circumference is approximately 8” and it weighs 198 grams (6.98 oz). It is in excellent vintage condition with light scratching consistent with its age. Not surprisingly, it is the cover illustration, front and back, for Silver Seduction and can also be found illustrated on page 50, item 39. The earrings are marked with the Antonio crown and 970. They are a little over 2” in length (2 1/8” to be exact) and weigh 8.5 grams each. Illustrated with the necklace on page 120, item 141B, they in excellent vintage condition consistent with their age. The bracelet is 1 3/4" wide and measures 6 3/4" interior. The necklace interior measures 13 3/4" and the 'matchsticks' measure from 3/4" to 1 1/2". The Matchstick Set is not only eminently wearable and extraordinarily seductive (just as the catalogue implies) as modernist jewelry but also of museum quality design embodying the inspired creativity of the greatest period of Mexican modernism. A copy of the Fowler Museum catalogue, Silver Seduction, is included with the set. Able to abstract and refine design elements from Mexico's past into superb modernist silver pieces—jewelry, sculpture, and tableware—artist Antonio Pineda produced elegant, spare, and geometric works that revealed a profound respect for the wearer. Pineda was also instrumental in the formation of Mexico's Taxco School of silver design. Please request a free copy of "Silver Seduction: The Art of Mexican Modernist Antonio Pineda" by Gobi Stromberg. This is the catalog for the Pineda exhibition at the Fowler Museum of UCLA. The more than 200 works in the catalog, from Pineda and others, reflect the artist's intense imagination and his quest for technical perfection.

Creator:
Antoñio Pineda
Metal:
Sterling Silver
Stone:
Onyx
Place of Origin:
Mexico
Period:
1960-1969
Date of Manufacture:
1967
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU62432494793