Designed by Stella Popowski for Los Castillo circa 1955. Sterling backs and findings, with brass front surrounding inlaid black onyx and turquoise. The inlay technique called 'onix negro' was made famous by Los Castillo and was invented by Chato Castillo. The larger measures 3.5" tall by 1-7/8" widest point. The smaller measures 1.75" tall by 1.25" widest. Both are marked "Onix Negro" and design "046P". The larger is also marked "Los Castillo Taxco" in a circle around the Eagle 15 mark, and also "Hecho en Mexico". I've seen the larger example a number of times both like here as a pendant, and also as a brooch, but this is the only time that I've seen the smaller version. I'm wondering if it was intended to be a charm on a bracelet perhaps? Interesting that the two pieces have the same design number. They are obviously related, but different enough to have their own numbers, I'd think.

Two examples of design number 046P by Stella Popowski for Los Castillo c. 1955.

#loscastillotaxco #chatocastillotaxco #popowskidesign #onixnegro #mexicansilver #mexicanjewelry #mexicanmodernism #mexicandesign #taxco #taxcosilver #metalescasados #cross #catholic #pendant #wearableart #art #jewelry

A super rare vintage 1950s handmade 'metales casados' (married metals) sterling silver brass and black onyx inlay Mexican modernist Face design letter opener/knife designed by Stella Popowski in Taxco. Popowski was a Polish jewish emigre who fled the Nazis in Europe to Cuba in the late 1930s with her parents and siblings. After the war, she studied art in Paris. She lived and worked in Taxco in the 1950s to early 1960s and designed jewelry for Los Castillo, Antonio Pineda, and later for herself in her own studio. She was not a silversmith, so she designed the jewelry and had it executed by a number of different silversmiths in Taxco. In the mid-1960s she moved to southern California where she concentrated on her painting and design projects. This is a very rare and early design from the Popowski taller in Taxco. I've only seen one other example of this design EVER in my 45+ year career! It measures 6" long by 1-1/8" wide, and weighs 29.7 grams total. Marked as shown, "Popowski Sterling". Excellent vintage condition.

A Stella Popowski sterling silver brass and black onyx Mexican modernist letter opener circa 1960.

Available...

www.rubylane.com/item/1879775...

#handmade #metalescasados #onixnegro #hechoenmexico #stellapopowski #letteropener #midcenturymexico #mexicanmodernism #modernsilver #vintagemodern #art

An 'onix negro' (black onyx) and turquoise mosaic inlay set in sterling silver Mexican modernist brooch designed by Chato Castillo for Los Castillo in Taxco circa 1950s - measures 1-5/8" diameter.

#loscastillotaxco #onixnegro #mexicanmodernist #brooch #wearableart #mexicansilver #jewelrydesign #art

A superb vintage 1950s handmade sterling silver and 'onix negro' (black onyx stone inlay) Mexican modernist necklace designed by Chato Castillo for the Los Castillo atelier in Taxco. Superb design and immaculate craftsmanship make this necklace a stunning piece of wearable Mexican art! Chato was not only a talented designer, but also a technical wizard, and he invented most of the new metal and stone working techniques that became signature for Los Castillo in the 1940s and 1950s, and much copied but never equaled by many of their competitors! The 'onix negro' technique involved the precise and seamless inlay of black onyx into silver channels creating a high-contrast design that really stood out when worn! The pendant is a little different featuring a silver setting and bezel into which black onyx is laid, then carved out at top to fit in the silver pieces once again precisely and seamlessly, and which are attached to the silver setting with a single rivet that can be seen on the backside. This example is one of my favorites by him using this metalworking technique, and seems to be based on a pre-Columbian, probably Mayan, glyph most likely found in ancient architecture in Mexico. The Castillo family were all great admirers of their pre-Hispanic heritage, and often created designs based on those examples. This necklace measures about 15" wearable with a 2" drop at front, and almost 5/8" wide around the neck. It weighs 3.2 ounces or roughly 91 grams total. Marked at back as shown, "Los Castillo Taxco" in a circle around the Eagle 15, and "Onix Negro Hecho en Mexico" and design number "42" in the Onix Negro line, making this one of the earlier designs using this technique. Excellent vintage condition.

close up and from the side view of the 'onix negro' necklace designed by Chato Castillo for Los Castillo circa 1950 - hand crafted from sterling silver with black onyx inlay

From the 'onix negro' line of jewelry created by Chato Castillo in the late 1940s for Los Castillo in Taxco, Mexico, but this example from the 1950s.

Available...

www.rubylane.com/item/1879775...

#loscastillotaxco #chatocastillodesign #onixnegro #necklace #mexicansilver #wearableart #handmade

Los Castillo 'ónix negro' (black onyx) sterling and turquoise modernist 'mask' brooch designed by Stella Popowski circa 1950.

#loscastillotaxco #stellapopowski #onixnegro #brooch #jewelrydesign #mexicandesign #mexicanmodernism #midcenturymexico #hechoenmexico #mexicansilver #modernistjewelry #art

In pre-Columbian cultures, snakes held significant symbolic importance, often representing life, fertility, rebirth, and the connection between earth, sky, and underworld. Snakes were revered as messengers of the gods, symbols of healing, and even associated with the creation of the universe. One of the most prominent examples is the Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent deity, a central figure in Mesoamerican mythology. The Brothers Castillo were big pre-Columbian collectors, and in those days there were few if any laws regarding the acquisition or sale of ancient Mesoamerican relics. Many of their designs were inspired by ancient Aztec Mayan or Olmec objects, though they were translated into their modernist aesthetic and using modern construction techniques and materials. In this case, Chato used metales casados (married metals) to combine three metals (sterling, copper, brass) seamlessly in the design. He also used onix negro (black onyx) and sodalite stone inlay.

Considering the design, the materials and construction techniques, and the marks at back, I'm circa dating this brooch/pendant to the late 1950s to early 1960s. Besides "Los Castillo Taxco" in a circle, the brooch is also marked "Hecho en Mexico" (Made in Mexico), design number "36", the Eagle 3, and "SMM925". In the late 1950s to early 1960s, there was labor unrest in Taxco, and even the great workshops like Los Castillo had difficulties staying solvent at the time. The Eagle 3 is not their regular Eagle mark, but the general mark for Taxco that was used by hundreds of shops, and the "SMM925" mark probably means that Los Castillo had this brooch made by the silversmith "SMM" of 925 sterling silver for them when their main workshops were closed due to the strikes.

A Quetzalcoatl feathered snake deity design brooch/pendant by Los Castillo circa 1960 - designed by Chato and constructed of metales casados (sterling, copper, brass) with black onyx and sodalite stone inlay.

#loscastillotaxco #chatocastillodesign #metalescasados #onixnegro #quetzalcoatl #brooch

Designed by Stella Popowski for Los Castillo in Taxco. This box has a sterling silver lid frame with metales casados (sterling and brass) that also includes black onyx and turquoise inlay in an abstract geometric design. The design reminds me of shapes viewed through a fun house mirror, everything seems a little off kilter! Measures a bit over 4” long by about 3” wide by just under 2” tall. The sterling lid fits loosely over the handmade Mexican redwood box base. These boxes by Popowski are really little artworks to place on a table or shelf, although they can be used for practical purposes too. Popowski was a Jewish emigré from Poland just before the Second World War whose family moved to Cuba first, then a few years later to Mexico. Popowski designed for Antonio Pineda and Los Castillo before opening her own workshop in the late 1950s in Taxco. She left Mexico in the early to mid 1960s for Southern California where she lived in the LA area before ending up in the suburbs of San Diego. She created unique artworks using a variety of techniques including oils and watercolors, and designed decorative objects like menus and greeting cards. Her unique artworks were shown in a great many galleries and art fairs in Southern California in her final years alongside many of the perhaps better recognized artists from the area. NFS.

A Los Castillo Stella Popowski design handmade onix negro box with matching belt buckle in metales casados, onix negro and turquoise - this is the most typical color combination found in Popowski designs for Los Castillo, and since most pieces found these days are in this combination, I am guessing that it was the most popular at the time of their creation - I also have the matching cufflinks in my collection, and I’m always looking for more examples/forms for this and other Popowski designs for Los Castillo! NFS

A Stella Popowski design for Los Castillo Taxco circa 1955 which was made into cufflinks, belt buckles, and this box.

#marriedmetals #metalescasados #onixnegro #blackonyx #turquoise #inlay #handmade #box #cufflinks #beltbuckle #midcenturymexico #mexicanmodernism #loscastillotaxco #stellapopowski

A striking 1950s Stella Popowski design for Los Castillo in Taxco from their ‘onix negro’ (black onyx) inlay line of jewelry and objects first created by Chato Castillo in the 1940s. Measures about 3” long by 2” wide by just under 2” tall. The lid is sterling silver with metales casados and onix negro techniques used to create the design of a woman holding a flower. The lid rests loosely on a redwood box base. Chato was responsible for the invention of metales casados, pluma azteca, onix negro, metales divorciados, and mosaico azteca, a staggering variety of metalworking and inlay techniques that were appropriated by many others in Taxco including some of the greats like Hector Aguilar, Enrique Ledesma, Tono, Felipe Martinez, Victoria and Cony, the Talleres Monasticos, Emaus of Cuernavaca, Pepe Mendoza, and the list goes on. In fact, it’s my opinion that no other Mexican metalworking family or workshop shaped the 1950s and 60s in Mexico like Los Castillo and especially Chato Castillo. No other workshop was copied by so many for so long, and so indelibly influenced the succeeding generations of metalworking artists in Mexico.

A striking 1950s Stella Popowski design for Los Castillo in Taxco from their ‘onix negro’ (black onyx) inlay line of jewelry and objects first created by Chato Castillo in the 1940s.

#loscastillotaxco #chatocastillotaxco #stellapopowski #mexicansilver #handmade #taxco #box #onixnegro #hechoenmexico

A Los Castillo Stella Popowski design handmade onix negro box with matching belt buckle in metales casados, onix negro and turquoise - this is the most typical color combination found in Popowski designs for Los Castillo, and since most pieces found these days are in this combination, I am guessing that it was the most popular at the time of their creation - I also have the matching cufflinks in my collection, and I’m always looking for more examples/forms for this and other Popowski designs for Los Castillo! NFS

Box and belt buckle designed by Stella Popowski for Los Castillo in Taxco, Mexico.

#mexicansilver #loscastillotaxco #stellapopowski #art #metalsmith #mexicanmodernism #onixnegro #metalescasados #handmade #hechoenmexico #plata #midcenturymexico #disenomexicano #box #beltbuckle #vintagemodern #silver

Los Castillo mid-1950s ‘onix negro’ (black onyx) and sterling silver modernist necklace designed by Chato Castillo - Chato created the ‘onix negro’ stone and silver technique in the late 1940s, and though it was much copied by others, none made it better than Los Castillo!

Hallmarks on the Los Castillo sterling and onix negro necklace designed by Chato Castillo in the 1950s. Marked "Los Castillo Taxco" in a circle around the Eagle 15 mark, also "Hecho en Mexico", "Onix Negro", and design number "42".

A vintage 1950s Los Castillo Taxco handmade sterling silver and 'onix negro' stone modernist necklace.

#chatocastillotaxco #chatodesign #loscastillotaxco #onixnegro #sterling #necklace #jewelry #wearable #art #handmade #midcenturymexico #taxco #taxcosilver #mexicansilver #jewelrydesign #mexico