Maguey Necklace

Known by the Maguey design name, this scrolled floral necklace takes the agave plant of the Mexican landscape as its starting point and works it in repoussé sterling, the raised-relief technique that gave Aguilar's ornamental pieces their depth. Naming a model after the maguey ties the design directly to its place of origin in Taxco.

The necklace carries the conjoined HA mark with the Taxco stamp and the 940 silver designation, the mark Aguilar used between 1940 and 1948. That stamp situates it within his independent workshop.

The scrolled, foliate treatment lets the silver itself carry the ornament, modeled up from the metal rather than set with stones. It is the same material confidence that runs through Aguilar's work of the period, where heavy sterling and relief design do the work that gemstones might do elsewhere.

From the estate of Paulene E. Poffenberger of Asheville, North Carolina, the necklace is a named-model example of Aguilar's repoussé work and the sort of piece that reaches the market only occasionally.