A striking pair of Stella Popowski handmade sterling silver and stone inlay Mexican modernist earrings c. 1950s.
Available...
www.rubylane.com/item/1879775...
#handmade #sterlingsilver #modernist #earrings #mexicansilver #mexicanmodernism #midcenturymexico #stellapopowski #taxco #wearableart #art
A sterling silver with 'metales casados' black onyx inlay and a mottled brown stone modernist brooch designed by Stella Popowski for Los Castillo in Taxco circa 1950s.
#loscastillotaxco #handmade #modernistjewelry #mexicanmodernism #stellapopowski #design #hechoenmexico #mexicansilver #taxco #art
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
Stella Popowski design for Los Castillo circa 1955 - a brooch and a pendant - the pendant measures about 3" tall - primarily made of sterling silver with 'metales casados' (married metals) sections at front, and with turquoise inlay.
#loscastillotaxco #stellapopowski #mexicanmodernism #taxco #plata
Stella Popowski was a Polish emigree who left Poland with her parents and siblings in the late 1940s for Cuba, where they lived during the war years. After the war, Popowski studied art in Paris before moving to Taxco where she designed for Antonio Pineda and Los Castillo. Around 1960, she opened her own business in Taxco, but it was short-lived. In the mid-1960s, she moved to California where she spent the rest of her life. During her years in California, she concentrated on her art and design projects. This is one of her designs for Los Castillo. Made in sterling silver with black onyx (onix negro), turquoise inlay, azurmalachite inlay, and malachite inlay. A very time-consuming technique, this 'onix negro' design would have been very expensive to produce, and of course that was reflected in the asking price when it was being sold in the Los Castillo showroom. It's marked design number "014P" which makes it one of her earlier designs at Los Castillo. The early Eagle mark is also present on it which places this piece from 1948 to about 1952, I'm saying circa 1950. The design is of a stylized figure who looks to be doing some kind of ritualized dance. Probably based on a pre-Columbian model, this is a very loose modernist interpretation. It measures 3.75" tall including the bail at top. Marked "Los Castillo Taxco" in a circle, "Hecho en Mexico" and "Onix Negro". A very rare design that I have only seen this once!
A very large Los Castillo Taxco sterling silver black onyx turquoise and azurmalachite inlay Mexican modernist pendant designed by Stella Popowski circa 1950 - measures 3.75" tall!
#loscastillotaxco #stellapopowski #pendant #mexicanmodernism #mexicansilver #wearableart #art #modernistjewelry #dance
A large pair of Los Castillo cufflinks at 1" diameter, and the pair weighs 28.8 grams total. Marked at back "Los Castillo Taxco" in a circle around the Eagle 15, also "Hecho en Mexico", "Onix Negro" and design number "06P". In pre-Hispanic Mexican cultures, the black sun symbolized the beginning and end of cosmic cycles, representing transformation, death, and rebirth. It was not a symbol of evil, but a powerful emblem of the unseen forces that drive both creation and destruction. This symbolism is most prominently associated with the Aztec sun god Tezcatlipoca and with solar eclipses.
An iconic pair of mid-century Mexican modernist cufflinks designed by Stella Popowski for Los Castillo in Taxco - handmade in 'metales casados' with 'onix negro' (black onyx) and turquoise inlay - a fish, a star, and a black sun!
#loscastillotaxco #stellapopowski #mexicansilver #taxco #cufflinks
A sculptural vintage 1950s handmade 'metales casados' (married metals) sterling and brass with black onyx and turquoise inlay Mexican modernist pendant necklace designed by Stella Popowski (1931-2008, USA) for Los Castillo in Taxco. Incredible entirely handmade modernist pendant necklace that is a masterwork of Mexican modernist art in metal and stone! Super rare design that I have only see twice in the last 45+ years! Popowski was a jewish emigre from Poland who fled from the Nazis in Europe by moving to Cuba with her parents and siblings in the 1940s, and then to Mexico in the 1950s. She lived and worked in Taxco in the 1950s to early 1960s and designed jewelry for Los Castillo and Antonio Pineda before opening her own studio. This pendant necklace is from her time at Los Castillo where she met and interacted with that genius of metalworking, Chato Castillo. Together they gave birth to one of the signature styles of the Mexican mid century modernist movement in Taxco incorporating his married metals (metales casados), black onyx (onix negro) inlay, and in this case in a characteristically mid century boomerang shape. Measures 3-1/4" wide by 1-3/4" tall, and hangs on a later-added handmade sterling silver neckring that will fit up to 17-1/2" neck presently but can be adjusted up or down several sizes as needed. The pendant weighs 41.6 grams, and the neckring weighs 14.2 grams total. The pendant is marked as shown, "Los Castillo Taxco Onix Negro", design number "059P", "Hecho en Mexico" and a very worn Eagle mark. The neckring is marked "925". There is also a previous owner or sellers magic-marker marking on the back next to the marks that can be removed with a bit of polishing if you desire. I have left it 'as found' leaving any decisions to the new owner. Excellent vintage condition.
A very large vintage 1950s handmade sterling silver Mexican modernist necklace designed by Stella Popowski for Los Castillo in Taxco.
Available...
www.rubylane.com/item/1879775...
#loscastillotaxco #stellapopowski #mexicanmodernism #modernistjewelry #wearableart #necklace #art #taxco #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
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
Stella Popowski was a Polish jew who fled the Nazis as a young woman with her parents and siblings. They landed first in Cuba where they spent the war years, then moved to Mexico. After the war, Popowski studied art in Paris, before returning to Mexico. In Taxco, Popowski designed jewelry for both Los Castillo and Antonio Pineda before opening her own workshop. This is one of her designs for Los Castillo, and bears their marks. She was a designer, not a metalsmith, so her independent work will have maker marks for a number of different metalsmiths from Taxco, but must also have her mark, "popowski" to be authentic. In the early to mid 1960s, she moved to Southern California, where she eventually ended up in the San Diego area. In her later years, she concentrated on her art, sculpture, and graphic design, and her work was sold in many galleries across the United States, and in Europe.
Vintage 1950s 'metales casados' (married metals) and 'onix negro' (black onyx) with turquoise abstract design Mexican modernist belt buckle designed by Stella Popowski for Los Castillo of Taxco, Mexico.
Measures just a bit over 2" across, design number 24.
#loscastillotaxco #stellapopowski #taxco
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
