Large Silver Brooch with Aztec Motifs

Two confronting Aztec-derived figures, rendered in relief on heavy silver, face each other across this large oval brooch and flank a central oval amethyst cabochon. A raised outer rim set with evenly spaced silver ball studs frames the composition, lending the piece the weight and presence of a pre-Columbian medallion resized for the lapel.

Morrill documents that in Spratling's first design period pieces were drawn almost literally from pre-Columbian sources — clay seals from his own collection that became brooches sawed directly from heavy sheet silver (Morrill & Berk, Mexican Silver, 1994). This brooch exemplifies that approach: the bilateral confrontation of stylized figures, the raised-ball accents filling the inner field, and the encircling bead border all read as a codified pre-Columbian stamp motif recast in sterling.

The design was also produced in a version that substitutes a raised silver ball for the cabochon — a characteristic early-Spratling practice of issuing a single model in parallel variants. The amethyst cabochon, its lavender tone set against the oxidized silver ground, introduces a chromatic dimension the all-silver version forgoes.