In 1929, a young, well-connected American architect named William Spratling left his job as an assistant professor of architecture at Tulane University in New Orleans and moved permanently to Mexico, where he spent several summers.
The move changed not only his life, but also the future of Mexican silversmithing, reviving the old colonial town of Taxco. The hillside town had been a center for silver mining and silversmithing for jewelry, art, and tableware since the time of the Aztecs.
Spratling was drawn to the explosion of creative energy that occurred in Mexico after the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Mexico, so long under the thumb of European colonialism and North American expansion, was yearning to return to its ancestral roots.
Artists like Diego Rivera were documenting the history of indigenous Mexicans in huge murals. The government and culture were moving away from foreign influences and toward the ancient indigenous traditions of the Mexican nation. William Spratling arrived in Mexico at the perfect time to take part in the explosion of artistic creativity that followed Mexican independence and to make his mark on history through Taxco and silver.
William Spratling opened his first studio, La Aduana, in Taxco in 1931, where he designed and crafted a variety of silver pieces using pre-Columbian themes as inspiration. Spratling was inspired not only by the vibrant artistic and political scene in post-revolutionary Mexico, but also by the intellectual and historical impetus of Taxco itself. Spratling’s friend Dwight Morrow, then the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, inspired Spratling’s vision when he remarked,
“What a pity that of all the thousands of tons of silver that Taxco has shipped to the Old World over the centuries, none of it has ever stayed here to build up the industry or economy of Taxco.”
Spratling changed all that. He initiated a demanding apprentice system to train Mexican silversmiths and bring back traditional techniques. His unique designs and high quality attracted worldwide attention. By 1935, his success dictated a move to larger premises. He named the new premises, located near Taxco’s main square, “Taller de las Delicias.” This is the place that became known as Spratling’s workshop, and the place where the work that first defined him was done.
Spratling’s atelier was filled with a unique creative energy that attracted the best and brightest. When the apprentices he trained were ready to leave on their own, they did so with the support and blessing of the master. Thus, Taxco grew as the center of silver and fine craftsmanship that Spratling had envisioned, and not only Spratling, but the silversmiths he trained and others drawn to his presence in Taxco, were drawn to the scene. But success brought its own challenges.
In 1944, the workshop, by now world famous, moved again to larger premises and Spratling expanded the business and brought in outside investors, handing over some of his control to them and their needs. Their vision differed from his, and in 1945 he left the business he had created and retired to his ranch to work independently and create another period of exciting and innovative Spratling designs. His later work was influenced by a number of external factors, including time spent in Alaska, where he worked with local artisans. This was a period in which he indulged his desire to experiment with different techniques and materials and produced some of his most mature and creative pieces.
