Antonio Pineda

The Taxco silver community in the early 1950s was an exciting place to be. A dialog was taking place and in the ether was a friendly competition to find who would create the next great thing in silver. Antonio Pineda took to heart Spratling’s request not to copy his designs but struggled with finding his own point of view not just as craftsman but as an artist. Inspiration would come in abstraction, with the repeating and mirroring of simplified lines that, much like Miminalism in music, finds interest and beauty in repetition. Pineda would later note in a video interview for the landmark exhibition of his work Silver Seduction “if there is no challenge, there is no inspiration.” His artistic expression married with careful craftsmanship resulted in some of the most beautiful jewelry of the Mexican silver golden age, crafted for comfort and ease of wear.

Pineda would for the rest of his career push the limits of what was possible to achieve in silver, creating a breadth of innovative designs that are among the most important and serenely gorgeous of the movement. The minimalist links of gem-set jewelry suites with their repeating lines and transcendent patterns are as comfortable to wear as they are beautiful to look at. A pair of squared columnar candlesticks, a rare form, are a study in the play of shape and line and are imbued with Pineda’s artistic philosophy.