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Tableware bearing naturalistic inlay stands as one of the ornamental threads running through Los Castillo's long production history. This circular plate, with a hummingbird rendered in mother-of-pearl against a silver-plate ground, reflects the workshop's sustained interest in flat inlay work that Morrill documents across a range of object types and materials — tortoise shell, crushed stone, onyx — across many decades of production (Morrill & Berk, 1994; Morrill, 1996).
The hummingbird is among the most enduring subjects in Mexican decorative arts, resonant with pre-Columbian visual culture and the landscape of Guerrero state. The mother-of-pearl inlay lends the bird an iridescent quality, its surface shifting between cream and color with the angle of light. The silver-plate base, rather than sterling, places this piece in the workshop's more accessible production tier — tableware made for everyday use, a line Los Castillo maintained in parallel with its formal hollowware and jewelry.
This plate offers a direct entry into Los Castillo's long tradition of surface decoration in inlaid metal.
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