Wire Cross with Amethyst

Reduced to silver wire and a single amethyst, this cross shows how little Spratling needed to make a devotional form read as his own. The open wirework lets light through the body of the cross, and the stone supplies the only note of color, an economy of means that runs through his strongest jewelry.

Amethyst cabochons were a Spratling signature; one of the earliest pieces to define his reputation was a chunky amethyst-set necklace of the 1940s (Morrill, p. 12). Pairing the stone with worked wire rather than heavy sheet keeps the cross light and modern.

The piece is recorded in both Penny Morrill's Maestros de Plata and Phyllis Goddard's Spratling Silver field guide, the references collectors use to separate authentic Spratling from later Taxco imitation.