Stylized Bird Figure Pair with Turquoise and Lapis

Turquoise and lapis set into a bird-form object give this piece its color against the worked metal, joining Los Castillo's inlay to the animal subjects the firm took from the natural world (Morrill, p. 92).

The turquoise carries the cooler notes and the lapis the deeper blue, both set so the stone marks the design while the metal holds it. Antonio Castillo opened the Taxco workshop in 1939, and the firm held that it would never repeat itself, always improving (Morrill, p. 91).

Bird objects inset with turquoise and lapis surface infrequently, and the example reflects the workshop's taste for setting paired stones into figural tableware.