Margot de Taxco
Margot van Voorhies Carr, known as Margot de Taxco, was one of the most distinctive independent designers of the Taxco movement. An American-born artist who came to Taxco in the late 1930s, she first worked within the Los Castillo circle after marrying Antonio Castillo, then established her own workshop under the Margot de Taxco name. Her work is lyrical, linear, and theatrical: silver with enamel, articulated necklace construction, serpents, fish, birds, and floral forms, each model identified by a four-digit design number.
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Margot van Voorhies Carr, known as Margot de Taxco, was one of the most distinctive designers of the Taxco movement and one of its essential independent voices. An American-born artist who came to Taxco in the late 1930s, she first worked within the Los Castillo circle after marrying Antonio Castillo, then established her own workshop under the Margot de Taxco name.
Margot’s importance lies in her unmistakable design language. Where Spratling was heavy and archaeological, and Pineda was architectural and refined, Margot was lyrical, linear, and theatrical. Her best work combines silver with enamel, articulated construction, floral and foliate forms, serpents, fish, birds, and elaborate necklace structures that move like fabric across the body.
She helped push Taxco jewelry toward color, pattern, and fantasy without losing seriousness. Her enamel work in particular gave the movement a new visual register: sensual, decorative, technically demanding, and immediately recognizable. Margot matters because she expanded the Taxco vocabulary beyond masculine weight and Pre-Columbian citation into a more fluid, feminine, and ornamental modernism.
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95 cataloged works by Margot de Taxco
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Quick facts
- Name
- Margot van Voorhies Carr (Margot de Taxco)
- Origin
- American-born; in Taxco from the late 1930s
- Workshop
- Margot de Taxco, Taxco
- Known for
- Enamel on silver, articulated construction, serpent and animal forms
- Principal marks
- Margot de Taxco, Sterling, Made in Mexico, with a four-digit design number; eagle 16 (documented 1948-78)
- Related makers
- Los Castillo, Antonio Castillo
Museum collections
2 individually documented silver works by Margot de Taxco in 3 public collections; institutions report 1 further works not yet indexed individually.
- Cincinnati Art MuseumCincinnati, United States
1 documented work
- The Wolfsonian-FIUMiami Beach, United States
1 documented work
- Milwaukee Art MuseumMilwaukee, United States
1 further reported
Questions
How can you identify Margot de Taxco silver?
By the Margot de Taxco mark with Sterling, Made in Mexico, a four-digit design number, and usually eagle assay mark 16. Documented marks run from 1948 to 1978. The style is linear and articulated, often enameled.
What do the four-digit numbers on Margot pieces mean?
They are design numbers identifying the model. Documented examples in this catalog's mark chronology run through the 5100s to 5600s. The number identifies the design, not the individual piece.
How is Margot connected to Los Castillo?
She married Antonio Castillo and worked within the Los Castillo circle first, contributing to its early design identity, before founding her own workshop under the Margot de Taxco name.
What is Margot de Taxco enamel work?
Her signature register: colored enamel fired on silver, technically demanding and immediately recognizable, applied to serpents, fish, birds, floral forms, and articulated necklaces that move like fabric across the body.
Further Reading
Market Trends
Total Sales
1,060
Total Volume
$604k
Peak Year
2020 · $82k
Trend
+13% / yr
Total auction volume by year.
Mark Chronology
Margot de Taxco · Sterling · Made in Mexico · 5100
Sterling · Made in Mexico · Margot de Taxco · 5465 · Eagle 16
Sterling · Made in Mexico · Margot de Taxco · Eagle 16 · 5230
Sterling · Made in Mexico · Margot de Taxco · Eagle 16 · 5578
Sterling · Made in Mexico · Margot de Taxco · 5199
5357 · Margot de Taxco · Sterling · Made in Mexico · Eagle 16
Sterling · Made in Mexico · Margot de Taxco · Eagle 16 · 5626
5404 · Sterling · Made in Mexico · Margot de Taxco · Eagle 16
Hallmark Gallery
Work Examples
