Toucan-Form Pitcher with Stone Inlay

Stone inlay set into a silverplate pitcher captures the decorative-object side of Los Castillo, the workshop that became as known for its hollowware as for jewelry. Vessels of this scale were the province of the orfebreria, the part of the taller given over to trays, services, and pitchers (Morrill).

The inlaid stone marks the body with color while the worked metal carries the form. Antonio Castillo opened the Taxco workshop in 1939, and the firm took the view that it would never be too commercial or repeat a design, refining its craftsmanship instead (Morrill, p. 91).

A stone-inlay pitcher of this kind stands as a representative piece of the workshop's larger decorative production.