Taxco Jewelry

The Story of Taxco Silver weaves between fact and legend back to the time of the Aztecs. Known in those times as a Tlacho, or place of the ballgame, this Mexican city lies in the hills between Mexico City and Acapulco and is one of the oldest mining sites of the Americas.

A natural wealth of silver quickly attracted the attention of early conquistadors and after the Spanish will put the Aztecs in 1521, it was only a year later that hernan Cortes staked his mining claim in Taxco and before the turn of the century if Taxco silver could be found all throughout Europe. However, I'm a richer and more accessible areas were soon discovered and mining in Taxco gradually faded away over nearly 200 years.

It was in 1716 when Don José de la Borda, “father of Taxco”, was said to be out wandering the heels of Taxco when he spotted a rich silver vein and rediscovered silver in Taxco. Grateful for his good fortunes he built among other things the famous Santa Prisca Cathedral, schools, roads and many houses.

Peru, Boliva and Mexico grew to produce roughly 85% of the worlds silver production between the 1600s and 1800s. In the 19th century, during the war of Independence, Spanish barons laid waste to their mines rather than lose them to the revolutionaries, until the craftsmanship died out in Taxco for quite some while.

A highway built from Mexico City finally reached Taxco in the late 1920s. It was then in 1926, when a US citizen and artist named William Spratling and an architecture professor arrived on the scene to study Mexico and its cultures. It was then, in 1931 that an unambiguous comment by Amb. Dwight Morrow to Mr. Spratling changed the course of Taxco's economic and artistic history. He had simply said that Taxco had been the site of silver mines for centuries but unfortunately had never been considered a location where jewelry and objects of silver were designed to make.

Mr. Spratling, now known as “the Father of Mexican Silver”, wasted no time in putting together an apprentice system, training local talent in the craft of silversmithing. He developed the skill of community artisans with his own designs and then brought in a highly regarded goldsmith from Iguala to further his teachings. Taxco soon earned worldwide recognition and fame again as a source of silver object of great beauty and craftsmanship.

With colonial ambience and a natural charm, Taxco boasts panoramic views of cobblestoned, narrow winding streets, red-tiled roofs and of course the ever present 240-year-old Santa Prisca Catheral towering over it all. In the Spratling Museum, one can see a silver bust of Mr. Spratling, pictures of Don José de la Borda and an impressive collection of Taxco Jewelry and artifacts recently found in a hidden chamber of a local church during restoration

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