Design 5744 Necklace

Sterling enamel necklaces are the form most closely associated with Margot van Voorhies Carr's Taxco studio, and the high inventory number on this example places it in the mature, later reach of the numbered design vocabulary she sustained from the late 1940s onward. Morrill notes that for her numbered inventory, the smaller the number the earlier the piece — making design 5744 characteristic of the settled, confident later output rather than the exploratory early years of her practice.

For each numbered design, Margot maintained a production book specifying die counts, color options for the enamel, and clasp placement, along with instructions for any companion earrings intended to complete the set (Morrill, Mexican Silver, 1994, p. 168). The number struck to the reverse is therefore a reference key to that documentation, not simply a serial mark. Morrill further describes her champlevé necklaces as sustained displays of color, texture, and technical precision, the direct result of a workmanship standard she imposed on every piece her studio produced.

For a collector tracing the arc of her practice from its early designs forward, this example from the later numbered vocabulary offers a legible and well-documented point of entry.