turquoise coral bracelet

The turquoise and coral link bracelet is among the most characteristic wearable forms to come from the Matl workshop: each articulated panel condenses scroll forms, fine silver beading, and clusters of cabochon stones into a compact ornamental unit, and the bracelet multiplies that unit along its full width to produce a surface that reads as a coherent whole while rewarding close examination link by link.

The palette draws on the vibrant color world of Mexican folk art that Matilde Poulat absorbed alongside her formal training at the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts. Morrill & Berk document that she sought inspiration in the Mixtec gold jewelry uncovered at Monte Alban in 1932, channeling that pre-Columbian visual vocabulary through the expressive craft of the Mexican pueblos. The baroque scroll elements and fine beaded borders that organize each link are consistent with the repoussé handling for which the taller was known — a quality Morrill & Berk note was formative for the Castillo brothers during their time in the workshop.

The "MATL HECHO EN MEXICO" stamp on the interior places production at 1934 or later, when Matilde Poulat introduced the mark. Coral and turquoise were refined specialties of the taller: Ricardo Salas, her nephew and closest collaborator, perfected the carving and setting of those stones over decades at her side (Morrill & Berk, Mexican Silver, 1994, p. 216).