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A portrait plaque of the actress Dolores del Rio, framed in beveled ebony and mounted on rose velvet, ties Spratling's silver to the circle of artists and film figures around him. Spratling moved among that world, and "The World of William Spratling" exhibition itself showed his work alongside that of friends such as Diego Rivera and Miguel Covarrubias (Morrill, p. 77); a commemorative portrait of del Rio fits naturally within that milieu.
The beveled ebony frame uses the dark wood Spratling favored as a foil to silver, here as the setting for a portrait rather than a vessel. The velvet survives in poor condition, the fragility of the original mounting.
The plaque is recorded in Phyllis M. Goddard's Spratling Silver: A Field Guide. Commemorative portrait pieces are an unusual category within his output and are rarely seen.
Dolores del Río portrait head, 1962–1964
Accession 2016.177. Official museum record Photo: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Verified against each institution's own collection records. All museum collections
Museum of Mexican Silver. “Delores Del Rio Plaque.” Catalog no. MoMS-000762. https://museumofmexicansilver.com/pieces/spratling-2673
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Mayan Head in Ebony Frame
Ebony
