Vintage Mexican Silver Jewelry

Three Periods Of Spratling Designs

• First Design Period - 1931 - 1945 The early years of William Spratlings silver career focused mainly on Mexican pre-Columbian images and designs. They included rope motifs and were made using flat chasing and repousse work. Sometimes there were abalone, turquoise and leather worked into the heavy gauge silverwork.
• Second Design Period - 1948 - 1951 In 1948 Spratling signed a contract with the United States Department of The Interior to create a program for Alaskans to make jewelry using native designs and materials. The government hoped to repeat the economic success of the silver industry in Taxco. These designs were simpler and used more contrasting materials than the pre-Columbian pieces from the first period. The program was unsuccessful and the government funding dried up, ending this short era of Spratling designs.
• Third Design Period - 1951 - 1967 After the failure of his Alaskan venture William Spratling returned to Mexico and set up another silver producing shop where he worked until his death in 1967. Using the symbolism of the pre-columbian items combined with the indigenous designs of his Alaskan venture he created a line of geometric silver objects that incorporated azur-malachite, ebony, gold, and tortoise shell into the designs. Production was kept at a minimum making creations from this period more scarce and valuable.