Hector Aguilar Silver Maguey Bracelet

This bracelet is called the Maguey by Hector Aguilar. It’s a gorgeous bracelet, isn’t it? Sometimes I’m at a loss for words to write about things that change my emotional states. I’m an okay writer, but I sometimes have to ask myself “how good am I to describe to a person what it feels like to wear 90g of silver with a warm, earthy glow?” I don’t have the words for it without using far too many superlatives. I was warned about those from highschool through college. I know better than to tell you “SUPERB!” or “FANTASTIC!” I do my best to make sure than anything I offer to you is just that. Even the most accessible ring to me is “SUPERB!” and “FANTASTIC!” So what am I communicating? I could just say “Masters of Mexico: Page 62”. But I decided to say more. What have I gotten myself into at 11PM? Let’s find out.

Then there’s another part of me that wants to share my personal relationship with these pieces. How I came to discover them, or the ones I wore to Thanksgiving dinner at my mother-in-law’s. But does that matter? Worse yet, I’ve already said that in another item. How many times will you read this and hear about the Air Force brat that loves silver? I think you know this aspect of me already. If you don’t, I question it’s importance at times.

So what is there to say? Hector Aguilar is a genius. His pieces influenced the Taxco jewelry of today. Many pieces and styles of his have been copied by other artists and for that fact alone they often command ½ the price. This is unusual in American markets. But is totally a thing in Mexico. Oh! I know what I can tell you about! What is a “masterpiece” and why do artists copy other artists. I’ll work Aguilar into it. If you aren’t interested, you can tune me out.

Okay, so for the longest time, all around the world people made metal jewelry. Humans learned to smelt metals during the Bronze age. Around this process and other artisanal/engineering/science efforts came this idea of “mastery”. So one would work with someone who is a “master” that person would be the “apprentice”. Often a master would have several apprentices, but that’s besides the point. The point here is there was a system for continuing the craft or trade.

Alright, so how does an apprentice become a master? Well, there were several steps but along the way one would become what’s called a “journeyman”. That was an important step. This meant that they were fully capable of doing the work, but not at the level of the person who taught them. That is, until they made a piece that proved they were capable. This piece was called a -- wait for it -- master piece. Or a masterpiece. It was a fine piece of work that proved to other masters, and oftentimes the public, that this person was a master.

So what does Aguilar have to do with any of this? Well Aguilar was a designer of some of the greatest silver pieces we’ve seen. Many of them were pre-columbian style. This came out of Spratling’s workshop as well as other silversmiths who took their influence from a huge cache of Aztec and other pre-columbian artifacts being found around this time.

Okay, so the bracelet is called the Maguey. It’s the original Maguey. And maguey is the name for the Agave plant. The plant most of us know is fermented and distilled into tequila. But, in other senses, this design and symbology -- being related to maguey/agave -- is also related to Mayahuel. The very same Mayahuel who’s the pre-colombian goddess of fertility. So there are ideas and symbology in there. In fact, you may find the bracelet often confused for the Aguilar fertility bracelet. Which is fine to some extent, given that the designs are very similar. Not the same at all. But the similar elements are in them. And, most important to our point: all of them are masterpieces.

What does this mean? Well, when a journeyman wanted to move up to master. One of the first things they did was: copy the work of the masters. This happens in everything. In art? You go to art school. Much of your time is spent mimicking other artists styles. Almost every artist's “early period” is nothing but them cribbing their influences. Look it up. Van Gogh looked nothing like the Van Gogh you love until around Potato Eaters in 1885. He started painting in 1880 (?) and died in 1890. His most prolific work, the work we think of as “Van Gogh” was from around 1886 - 1890. Most artists crib. But the key thing is: until they come into their own, the work is often derivative. And it is clearly so. It’s like watching someone else mock someone dancing. It is quite obvious it’s not the original. They had yet to make it their own.

Well, the Spanish brought their system of doing this to Latin America. But, it’s not that the pre-columbian folks of the Americas needed the system. They had similar systems of apprenticeship and such also. So this worked out well. Fast forward to the Taxco Revival era and artists and their apprentices/helpers did the same. Even strangers would copy. But, as usual, it didn’t look the same. Look at old Hector Aguilar pieces and look at Spratling’s Vindobonensis. Even many of the Antonio Pineda pieces from the AP signature period were done in the Spratling style. But they weren’t as great as when he came into his own. And many other artists whose names aren’t as big did the same to them. This is the way of the world.

However, nothing comes close to the original. Usually journeymen put their own spin on the pieces. Sometimes they do the style because it’s popular and they want to sell pieces. But most times, the pieces are only mimicked because of the original. Now go look at any Taxco silver pieces from the 1940s - 2020s and you’ll see: Aguilar, Pineda, Spratling, Margot de Taxco, and others. You’ll see 20 different artists attempt that feather/leaf thing. You’ll see 10 different interpretations of the same Aguilar piece. You’ll see modernist pieces that look like Aguilar was in the room. And this is actually quite lovely. The artists stamp their own pieces with their own stamps, of course. But “mimicry is the highest form of flattery” wasn’t said by the fools. It was said by the wise.

I think I made a good enough point. What about this piece? It’s so amazing, I can see why it’s style and curves became one of Taxco’s signature styles. He obviously didn’t invent it. It finds it’s roots in the pre-columbian revival itself. It can be seen in the vindobonensis bracelets of Spratling. But this is a break from the more crude edges of the Vindobonensis. Which is not to say that Old Vinny is bad! Oh no! I wouldn’t dare! But look at this. None of us have the tooling, the skill, or the patience to pull this off in this day and age. Maybe Tiffany has some silversmiths that can pull it off. But, again, to my greater point, that’s the whole deal with these pieces. They’re master works and you know it when you see it. Because that was the whole point of master work: You knew this was done by a master and it was the proof they were the master now.