Los Castillo
Los Castillo was one of the great laboratories of the Taxco movement, founded in 1939 by Antonio Castillo and his brothers, including Jorge "Chato" Castillo and Justo "Coco" Castillo, all trained in Spratling's Las Delicias. The workshop became famous for experimentation: married metals, stone mosaic, feather inlay, enamel, silver overlay, and ambitious hollowware. Margot van Voorhies Carr's early design role helped shape some of its most recognizable floral and naturalist forms.
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Los Castillo was one of the great laboratories of the Taxco movement. Founded in 1939 by Antonio Castillo and his brothers, including Jorge “Chato” Castillo and Justo “Coco” Castillo, the workshop emerged from the first generation trained in Spratling’s Las Delicias but quickly developed its own identity.
Los Castillo’s importance lies in experimentation. The taller became famous for married metals, divorced metals, stone mosaic, feather inlay, enamel, mixed metals, silver overlay, and ambitious hollowware. Where Spratling gave Taxco its founding grammar, Los Castillo expanded the material vocabulary. Their work often feels painterly: silver, copper, brass, stone, wood, shell, and feather treated as color fields and surfaces rather than merely precious materials.
The workshop also benefited from Margot van Voorhies Carr’s early design role, which helped shape some of its most recognizable floral and naturalist forms. Los Castillo matters because it made Taxco technically adventurous. It transformed the movement from a silver renaissance into a broader modern decorative arts phenomenon.
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125 cataloged works by Los Castillo
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Quick facts
- Name
- Los Castillo
- Type
- Workshop (taller), founded 1939
- Founders
- Antonio Castillo and brothers, including Jorge "Chato" and Justo "Coco" Castillo
- Location
- Taxco
- Known for
- Married metals, stone mosaic, feather inlay, enamel, silver overlay, hollowware
- Principal marks
- Los Castillo Taxco with 980 and design numbers (1940-45); Sterling with eagle 15 and technique names like Esmalte a Fuego, Mosaico Azteca, Pluma Azteca (1948-65)
- Related makers
- William Spratling, Margot de Taxco, Salvador Terán, Jorge Chato Castillo
Museum collections
3 individually documented silver works by Los Castillo in 2 public collections.
- The Wolfsonian-FIUMiami Beach, United States
2 documented works
- Los Angeles County Museum of ArtLos Angeles, California
1 documented work, on view
Questions
How can you identify Los Castillo silver?
By the Los Castillo Taxco mark, usually with a design number and a fineness mark: 980 in the early years, Sterling later, often with eagle assay mark 15. Many pieces also carry a technique name in the mark, such as Esmalte a Fuego (enamel), Mosaico Azteca (stone mosaic), or Pluma Azteca (feather inlay).
What are married metals?
A technique the Los Castillo workshop became famous for: different metals such as silver, copper, and brass joined into a single surface and treated as fields of color. It is part of the workshop's broader experimental vocabulary alongside stone mosaic, feather inlay, and enamel.
What do the numbers on Los Castillo pieces mean?
They are design numbers identifying the model, and they appear in the mark alongside the workshop name and fineness. The same design number can appear on multiple examples of the same model.
How is Los Castillo connected to Margot de Taxco?
Margot van Voorhies Carr married Antonio Castillo and played an early design role at Los Castillo before establishing her own workshop under the Margot de Taxco name.
Market Trends
Total Sales
1,823
Total Volume
$769k
Peak Year
2024 · $159k
Trend
+19% / yr
Total auction volume by year.
Mark Chronology
980 · Los Castillo · Taxco · Made Mexico · 252
980 · Los Castillo · Taxco · Made in Mexico · 201
Made in Mexico · 980 · Los Castillo · Taxco · 392
Sterling · Mexico · Los Castillo · Taxco · 462
925 · Hecho en Mexico · Los Castillo · Taxco
Los Castillo · Taxco · Hecho en Mexico · 189 · Eagle 15
Los Castillo · Taxco · 070 · Esmalte a Fuego · Sterling · Made in Mexico · Eagle 15
Los Castillo · Sterling · Made in Mexico · Taxco · 204 · Mosaico Azteca · Eagle 15
Los Castillo · Sterling · Made in Mexico · Taxco · Pluma Azteca · 3
Onix Negro · Los Castillo · Eagle 15
Los Castillo · Taxco · 28 · Sterling · Made in Mexico · Onix Negro · Eagle 15
Los Castillo · 13 P · Hecho en Mexico · Onix Negro · Eagle 15
Los Castillo · Taxco
SCL 2 · Soc Coop · Los Castillo · 925 · Hecho en Mexico
182 · Handwrought · Los Castillo · Taxco · Sterling · Mexico · Eagle 15
Cristina · 325
Soc Coop · SCL · Sec 2 · Los Castillo · Hecho en Mexico · 925 · PZ121 · Eagle 58
386 · Hand Wrought · Hecho en Mexico · Los Castillo · Taxco
Los Castillo · Taxco · Hecho a Mano · Mexico
Los Castillo · Plateado
TA-01 · Plateado · Los Castillo · Taxco · Hecho en Mexico · 134
Los Castillo · Taxco · Mexico
Sterling Silver Jewelry by Los Castillo (script signature) · of Taxco, Mexico
Los Castillo · Fine Silver Jewelry
980 · Los Castillo · Taxco
980 · Los Castillo · Taxco · Made in Mexico · 111
980 · Los Castillo · Taxco · 334
Los Castillo · Taxco · Made in Mexico · Sterling
Made in Mexico
Hallmark Gallery
Work Examples
