Vintage C1950 ' S Los Castillo Taxco Mexico Mixed Metal Ashtray Mayan Diety Marked
Item History & Price
Vintage c1950's Los Castillo Taxco Mexico Mixed Metal Ashtray Mayan Diety Marked
Original Vintage Los Castillo Taxco Metales Casados in Excellent Condition with all Hallmarks
Antonio Castillo (1917-2000) and his brothers were all trained in William Spratling's workshop, Las Delicias. They left to form their own taller, or workshop in 1939 and pioneered many techniques such as "married metals" or metales casados.
This extraordinary and amusing Los Castillo ashtray or trin...ket dish is an intricate piece. It was made in Taxco, Mexico circa the 1950's. It is handcrafted of brass with copper and silver (both shiny and with blackened niello finish), making up an extremely cool face (likely a Mayan deity). The black is achieved by using liver of sulfur which changes the silver to black. A caution: If you polish the metal, be careful not to polish the black patina as it is a surface application that would be removed with commercial metal polishes or by using scouring pads such as Brillo, SOS, etc. It is a rare piece which sits on three ball feet, measuring 3" x 3" x 2 1/2". Excellent condition with rich patina, marked Hecho en Mexico, Los Castillo Taxco, Handwrought and "43".
Original Vintage Los Castillo Taxco Metales Casados in Excellent Condition with all Hallmarks
Antonio Castillo (1917-2000) and his brothers were all trained in William Spratling's workshop, Las Delicias. They left to form their own taller, or workshop in 1939 and pioneered many techniques such as "married metals" or metales casados.
This extraordinary and amusing Los Castillo ashtray or trin...ket dish is an intricate piece. It was made in Taxco, Mexico circa the 1950's. It is handcrafted of brass with copper and silver (both shiny and with blackened niello finish), making up an extremely cool face (likely a Mayan deity). The black is achieved by using liver of sulfur which changes the silver to black. A caution: If you polish the metal, be careful not to polish the black patina as it is a surface application that would be removed with commercial metal polishes or by using scouring pads such as Brillo, SOS, etc. It is a rare piece which sits on three ball feet, measuring 3" x 3" x 2 1/2". Excellent condition with rich patina, marked Hecho en Mexico, Los Castillo Taxco, Handwrought and "43".
