Margot de Taxco Vintage 1950s Mexico Silver Bow Pendant Large Convertible Pendant Pin Brooch

Timeless Sterling Silver wearable art by renowned jewelry designer Margot de Taxco. You'll love the flexibility of this piece - it can be worn as either a pendant via the silver loops on the reverse or as a brooch via the pin-back. The design is a modernistic, abstract bow or knot with contrasting oxidized hammered and polished silver. It measures 2 3/4 inches at its widest point, and 2 7/8 inches at the tallest point.

Provenance: From the collection of Cindy Tietze-Hodosh and Stuart Hodosh.

Marked Margot de Taxco, Sterling, Made in Mexico, Eagle 16 (her stamp), 5417. 5417 is the design number which dates the piece to the early to mid 1950s.

Excellent condition with patina and minor wear from age and use.

About Margot de Taxco:

Margot Van Voorhies was born in 1896 in San Francisco, California. In 1937, forty-one-year-old divorcée Margot Van Voorhies left San Francisco on a trip to Mexico City. Fate threw her into the path of Don Antonio Castillo, who took her to Taxco, a Mexican hotbed for the design, crafting, and production of silver objects, in particular jewelry and housewares. 

Castillo and Margot married. At the time, Castillo was working for William Spratling, a pioneer in Mexican silversmithing. He brought Margot into the business as a designer, helping her to transform her paper creations into three-dimensional forms in silver. In 1939, the pair, along with other members of Castillo’s family, opened shop as Los Castillo Taller (Taller is Spanish for “Workshop”), with Margot as the top designer.

After ten years, the marriage between Castillo and Van Voorhies dissolved, as did their professional association. Margot went on to open her own shop in 1948, taking the name Margot de Taxco, by which she is best known today. 

At the peak of her career, Margot, who designed each piece herself, had two dozen silversmiths and a dozen enamellists in her employ to execute her vision. Margot attracted talented craftsmen who later went on to cement their own reputations, such as Sigi Pineda, Miguel Melendez, and Melecio Rodriguez.

Many contemporary Hollywood celebrities were clients of Margot, including John Wayne and Lana Turner, who visited her shop every year.

As the Stars are to the Night, so are the Jewels to the Woman. – Business card of Margot de Taxco