Vintage Ciempiés (Centipede) Design Necklace c. 1945
by Los Castillo (est. 1939)
Taxco, Mexico
sterling silver
12” around x 1 1/8” wide
Beautifully designed and crafted silver runs through the veins of the Castillo family.
Their story opens during the Mexican silver Renaissance in the second quarter of the twentieth century under the guidance of Fred Davis and William Spratling. Spratling’s workshop in Taxco, Mexico, Taller Las Delicias, provided the training for many young men who later went on to establish studios of their own. One of Sprating’s earliest apprentices was Antonio Castillo who joined Spratling in 1933 at the age of sixteen, followed by his brothers Jorge, Miguel, and Justo, who developed expertise in all aspects of running the studio.
Antonio rose to the level of maestro and with his brothers left Spratling in 1939 to begin their own taller, Los Castillo. Focusing on product variety and developing a wide range of innovative silver techniques, they employed a talented pool of designers that experimented with materials and new techniques, all while keeping an eye on style and trends. They are particularly known today for married metals (incorporating multiple metals into a single work) and for the inlay of local stones into their silver jewelry and hollowware.
