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A box lid laid with a tortoise-shell mosaic and accented with flat silver balls shows Spratling composing with pattern and material rather than a figural motif. The mosaic of tortoise shell against the metal is the textural contrast Morrill identifies as central to his Second Period objects, where the play of silver against tortoiseshell carries the design (Morrill, p. 73), the flat silver balls punctuating the field.
The design was made in a larger version as well, so it belongs to a scaled family of boxes. It was included in "The World of William Spratling," the exhibition that toured U.S. museums in 1965 (Morrill, p. 77).
The box is recorded in Cederwall and Riney's Spratling Silver and in Goddard's field guide. An original with its tortoise-shell mosaic complete and an early mark is the piece to seek.
Box (Caja), 1949-1951
Accession M.2015.190.6. Official museum record Photo: Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Verified against each institution's own collection records. All museum collections
Museum of Mexican Silver. “Tortoise Shell Box.” Catalog no. MoMS-000547. https://museumofmexicansilver.com/pieces/spratling-57
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William Spratling
Rosewood Box with Detachable Lid
Third Design Period: 1951 - 1967
Rosewood
