Silson Curled Jaguar Brooch

An openwork curled jaguar in silver plate, this brooch comes from Silson, the New York firm that produced Spratling designs under license. Spratling's Silson patents were registered in the United States in 1940-41, and by 1941 Silson, Inc. was manufacturing his designs for the American market (Morrill, p. 257), which is why this example is plate rather than the sterling of the Taxco workshop.

The coiled cat is drawn from the Pre-Columbian animal imagery that ran through Spratling's work, the same source that turned ancient seals and motifs into wearable form. As a Silson product it represents the commercial reach of his designs beyond Taxco, distributed to a wider audience than the ranch and Taller Borda could supply.

Silson pieces are a distinct and collectible category within the Spratling story, valued precisely because they document that licensing chapter.