Greek Key Necklace

This sterling-and-enamel necklace, catalogued as design 5403, belongs to the enamel-on-silver line that Margot de Taxco launched in 1955 — one of her major programs, as Morrill documents — governed by the written specifications Margot prepared for every piece in the range. The design number is not merely an inventory mark; it places this necklace within a systematized production program that Margot personally administered.

Behind each number was a technical drawing specifying color options for the enamelwork, clasp placement, assembly sequence, and finishing details, with those drawings serving as templates for her enamelers (Morrill, Mexican Silver, 1994, p. 168). Her insistence on meticulous production standards held quality consistent across the range. The enamel-on-silver line she built at her own taller had its origins in her years at Los Castillo, where she first developed the techniques she would carry forward — what Morrill describes, for the mature body of work, as "glittering displays of color, texture, and technical perfection" (p. 166).

The numbered-design system traces each piece's specifications directly to Margot's own hand, giving the form an unusually well-grounded documentary basis in the designer's own records.