Silver Masters of Mexico


Book Description

This magnificent presentation introduces master designers and silversmiths with particular focus on one of the principal designers, Hctor Aguilar, and the personnel at this workshop. Valentin Vidaurreta, Los Castillo, William Spratling, Antonio Pineda, Hubert Harmon, Enrique Ledesma, and many more craftsmen are included. Beautifully illustrated with hundreds of examples of their artistry, including a guide to current market values.




William Spratling and the Mexican Silver Renaissance


Book Description

William Spratling revolutionized silver jewellery design in Mexico. Arriving in Taxco in 1929, by 1940 he had over 100 silversmiths producing his enormously popular silver creations. Out of Spratling's workshop emerged many of Mexico's finest silver designers.




Humboldt's Mexico


Book Description

The incalculable influence of Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) on biology, botany, geology, and meteorology deservedly earned him the reputation as the world’s most illustrious scientist before Charles Darwin. Humboldt’s breath-taking explorations of Mexico and South America from 1799 to 1804 are akin to Europe’s second “discovery” of the New World – this time, a scientific one. His Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain is a foundational document about Mexico and its cultures and is still widely consulted by anthropologists, geographers, and historians. In Humboldt’s Mexico, Myron Echenberg presents a straightforward guide with historical and cultural context to Humboldt’s travels in Mexico. Humboldt packed a lifetime of scientific studies into one daunting year, and soon after published a four-volume account of his findings. His adventures range widely from inspections of colonial silver mines and hikes to the summits of volcanoes to meticulous examination of secret Spanish colonial archives in Mexico City and scientific discussions of archaeological sites of pre-Hispanic Indigenous cultures. Echenberg traces Humboldt’s journey, as described in his publications, his diary, and other writings, across the heartland of Mexico, while also pursuing Humboldt’s life, his science, his experiences, his influence on scholars of his time and after, and the various efforts by others to honour and at times to denigrate his legacy. Part history, part travelogue, and always highly readable and informative, Humboldt’s Mexico is an engaging account of a gifted scientist and visionary that ranges across topics as diverse and broad as natural history was in his era.




The Little Book of Mexican Silver Trade and Hallmarks


Book Description

The 2006 new and revised 2nd edition of the bestselling reference guide to identifying Mexican silver: Loaded with images and graphics of over 1500 marks of silver makers, designers, manufacturers and silver houses in Taxco and throughout Mexico. Eagle numbers from 1 through eagle 219. The book includes all the great ones, including William Spratling, Hector Aguilar, Los Castillo, Antonio Pineda, Sigi, Maricela, Salvador, Valentn Vidaurreta, Victoria, Fred Davis, Artemio Navarrete, Emma Melendez, Bernice Goodspeed, Maciel, Matl, Tane, Hubert Harmon, Chato, Margot and many, many others. The book is cross-referenced and indexed for quick and handy searches. The new edition reveals identities of many mystery marks and includes examples of marks not previously published. Special sections describing fake marks are included for prominent designers.




Mexican Gothic


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “It’s Lovecraft meets the Brontës in Latin America, and after a slow-burn start Mexican Gothic gets seriously weird.”—The Guardian IN DEVELOPMENT AS A HULU ORIGINAL LIMITED SERIES PRODUCED BY KELLY RIPA AND MARK CONSUELOS • ONE OF TIME’S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME • WINNER OF THE LOCUS AWARD • NOMINATED FOR THE BRAM STOKER AWARD ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, NPR, The Washington Post, Tordotcom, Marie Claire, Vox, Mashable, Men’s Health, Library Journal, Book Riot, LibraryReads An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets. . . . From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes “a terrifying twist on classic gothic horror” (Kirkus Reviews) set in glamorous 1950s Mexico. After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region. Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom. Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness. And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind. “It’s as if a supernatural power compels us to turn the pages of the gripping Mexican Gothic.”—The Washington Post “Mexican Gothic is the perfect summer horror read, and marks Moreno-Garcia with her hypnotic and engaging prose as one of the genre’s most exciting talents.”—Nerdist “A period thriller as rich in suspense as it is in lush ’50s atmosphere.”—Entertainment Weekly




Great Masters of Mexican Folk Art


Book Description

Profiles 180 Mexican folk artists, profiling the works they have created out of clay, vegetable fibers, wood, metal, textiles, and stone which represent many different craft traditions.




Bordering Fires


Book Description

As the descendants of Mexican immigrants have settled throughout the United States, a great literature has emerged, but its correspondances with the literature of Mexico have gone largely unobserved. In Bordering Fires, the first anthology to combine writing from both sides of the Mexican-U.S. border, Cristina Garc’a presents a richly diverse cross-cultural conversation. Beginning with Mexican masters such as Alfonso Reyes and Juan Rulfo, Garc’a highlights historic voices such as “the godfather of Chicano literature” Rudolfo Anaya, and Gloria Anzaldœa, who made a powerful case for language that reflects bicultural experience. From the fierce evocations of Chicano reality in Jimmy Santiago Baca’s Poem IX to the breathtaking images of identity in Coral Bracho’s poem “Fish of Fleeting Skin,” from the work of Carlos Fuentes to Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo to Octavio Paz, this landmark collection of fiction, essays, and poetry offers an exhilarating new vantage point on our continent–and on the best of contemporary literature. From the Trade Paperback edition.




The Spell of New Mexico


Book Description

Famous writers tell of the fascination of New Mexico.




Dreaming in Silver / Soñar en Plata


Book Description

Sculptors, painters, and architects in 20th-century Mexico, working in silver, inspired unprecedented stylistic and technical experimentation. This dual-language English/Spanish compendium focuses primarily on threads of influence in the development of the modern Mexican silver industry. It covers the active artistic communities in Taxco and Mexico City, which had a major impact on silver designers, maestros, and silversmiths. Morrill helps us explore the materials, techniques, and design aesthetics of artists William Spratling, Héctor Aguilar, Margot Van Voorhies, Anna Morelli, and Matilde Poulat, together with a group of talented contemporary Mexicanartists designing in silver. The artists' works were born out of a unique perspective, the challenge provided by the aesthetics of Mexican indigenous art. Forces like cubism, surrealism, primitivism, and abstraction were incorporated into a distinctly Mexican stylistic language. Researchers, curators, collectors, and art lovers will treasure this indispensible resource, demonstrating why Mexico has been and continues to be an exciting and nurturing setting for artists in silver.




Mexican Silver


Book Description

The powerful story of the silver renaissance in Mexico from the 1920s to the present. Over 400 color photos showcase jewelry, tableware and art works in silver. Extensive research sheds new light on the life and art of William Spratling, Margot van Voorhies, Fred Davis, and Hubert Harmon, and artisans who worked for them, making this book the definitive study of Mexican silver jewelry and decorative objects. The newly updated price guide is helpful in today's market.