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This brooch distills Héctor Aguilar's sculptural instinct into a single animal subject, the head of a rabbit rendered in silver. Aguilar, founder of Taxco's Taller Borda, built his reputation on form worked confidently in metal, and a figural brooch like this lives or dies on that handling rather than on applied decoration.
It is made in 990 silver, a high-content alloy whose soft tone and workability suit a piece raised and modeled by hand. The brooch dates to about 1940, early in the Taller Borda's history, and carries the Aguilar period hallmark of that time.
It is recorded in Penny C. Morrill's *Silver Masters of Mexico: Héctor Aguilar and the Taller Borda* (1996) as figure I-101, the standard reference on the maker. An early figural Aguilar brooch documented in that catalogue is the kind of piece that comes to market only occasionally.
Rabbit Brooch (Prendedor con conejo), 1940s
Accession M.2015.38. Official museum record Photo: Photo: Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Verified against each institution's own collection records. All museum collections
Museum of Mexican Silver. “Rabbit Head Brooch.” Catalog no. MoMS-001677. https://museumofmexicansilver.com/pieces/aguilar-rabbit-head-pin-1940
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Sterling silver
