Fish-Motif Pitcher with Malachite and Lapis

Banded green malachite and lapis worked into a silverplate pitcher show Los Castillo combining two strongly colored stones in a single decorative vessel. Pitchers of this size were made in the orfebreria, the workshop arm set up for larger objects (Morrill).

The malachite carries the body's green register and the lapis the blue, both set against the metal so that color and silver read together. Founded in Taxco by Antonio Castillo in 1939, the firm held to improving rather than repeating its designs (Morrill, p. 91), and its readiness to pair stones reflects that habit of variation.

Malachite-and-lapis pitchers turn up from time to time, and this example documents the workshop's taste for setting contrasting stones into functional silver.