Shell-Link Bracelet with Amethyst

A linked bracelet set with amethyst, this piece carries the MATL mark into a flexible, articulated form. The link construction lets a sequence of silver elements and colored stones run along the wrist, a format suited to the workshop's dense, decorative idiom.

Matilde Poulat introduced the MATL mark in 1934 after training as a painter at the San Carlos Academy, and her work belonged to the post-Revolutionary movement that sought a Mexican aesthetic rooted in Pre-Conquest and folk art (Morrill, p. 216). She found inspiration in the Mixtec gold jewelry discovered in 1932 at Monte Alban, and her recurring doves, flowers, and tiny bells recall Mexican folk subjects (Morrill, p. 216).

The amethyst settings reflect the workshop's skill with carved and mounted stones; Ricardo Salas perfected the carving of coral, turquoise, and the other stones used across the jewelry (Morrill, p. 216).

Linked MATL bracelets set with amethyst turn up at market with some regularity, while keeping the workshop's strong Mexican-folk character.