Agate Swirl Brooch

A swirl of silver set with a round agate cabochon, the stone anchoring the spiral motion of the metal. The composition belongs to the family of swirl pins Spratling worked in his first design period, where a gestural silver form is centered on a single inset stone, the agate here supplying a band of warm, figured color.

The pairing of silver with semi-precious stones like agate runs throughout that early jewelry, the stone chosen as much for its color as its cut. The fluid, ribbon-like silhouette reflects the clean, gestural sensibility of the Taller de Las Delicias Spratling founded in Taxco in 1931.

With no recorded reference and the swirl-and-cabochon design the main fact, this is a straightforward example of that adaptable first-period form, where the same swirl carried a variety of central stones.