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I am new to the forum but I'm sure I'll be reading and posting reguarly. I have a Mexican sterling bracelet with abalone inlay whose maker I would like to identify. The mark on the clasp (not very sharp) appears to be: .925, Hecho en Mexico, RM" and the eagle assay mark is not delineated and has a 1 in the center.
I have attached three images; two of the marks and one of the overall bracelet. I look forward to any comments.
Can't identify the manufacturer for you. Information on Mexican marks is hard to come by. The Eagle mark was used from roughly 1948 to 1980. Over the years the Eagle mark changed in appearance. Your Eagle mark is one of the later ones. My personal rule of thumb is that if it looks more like a bell than an Eagle I assume a time frame of roughly 1960 to 1980.
Thanks for your reply. Looks like this may be by one of many as-yet unidentified makers, seems that's all I find! As I understand it, the eagle assay system was started in 1948 at the intiation of Spratling and others who wished to differentiate their hand-crafted wares from those made by artists who were using automated methods. It appears to have fallen from use in the late 1970's. It's a good general dating tool but I have yet to find a comprehensive reference of cities, makers, and dates for the eagle assay system.
Hi Tracy,
Actually, the eagle system wasn't about handcraft vs. manufacturing. It was installed as a system to make the makers responsible for maintaining the 925 silver purity of their products. The same is true of the current letter/number system.
Regards, Tom
ps. Just wrote a short explanation of the letter/number system and added it to the Mexican Marks page on the site.
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the clarification. Actually, I did understand that the system was enacted primarily to maintain purity standards but it was also promoted/supported by Spratling, Ana Brilanti, Antonio Castillo, and others as a means of reinforcing the fact that true artistry was melded with quality standards where the eagle mark was used (as opposed to the more cheaply machine-assisted, less-than-sterling qulaity wares made en masse for tourists). This is how I interpret the text of "Mexican SIlver" by Morrill & Berk in the chapter on Brilanti. A matter of emphasis but I agree with you!
Hi Tracy,
I recall the passage, but in truth I always took her recollections with a grain of salt.
I have difficulty believing that anyone with the business acumen of either Spratling or Antonio C. could have believed that installing a system of purity responsibility would raise anyone's production standards outside of the purity issue. The eagle was an assay system and assay only controls purity, it has no hand in taste or quality.
As to design issues, it seems unlikely that they would have felt threatened by makers of badly designed and badly made tourist trinkets. These people were at the top of their craft and they knew they produced the best. To see them threatened by junk makers is like the folks at Cartier or Harry Winston freaking out about CZ's being sold on QVC.
In reality, as serious players in the industry, I am very sure they were truly worried about, first and foremost, the unscrupulous manufacturers, large & small, selling debased silver in large quantities. This practice was causing loss of faith in the entire Mexican silver industry and was a genuine threat to their talleres.
That said, I have to admit that, in all honesty, I really do prefer Brilanti's scenario.
Thanks for sharing your insights. I don't have enough background in Mexican silver history to know who speaks more accurately of events, artists, and the like so I appreciate your thoughts. Yes, Brilanti's version of things is more romantic, if not effective in keeping the lesser-quality items from being made, being assayed, and being sold in large quantities to tourists who preferred cheaper goods to quality wares.
Will have to do much more studying! Maybe I'll start with a perusal of the books list on the site to see what may library lacks.
