Frederick Walter Davis
Faceted Trapezoid Necklace (Collar con formas trapezoidales)circa 1940

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Frederick Walter Davis
United States, active Mexico, 1878-1961
Artist or Maker: Valentín Vidaurreta
Mexico, 1902-1955
Title: Faceted Trapezoid Necklace (Collar con formas trapezoidales)
Date Made: circa 1940
Medium: Silver
Dimensions: 1 1/2 × 16 1/2 × 1 in. (3.81 × 41.91 × 2.54 cm); diameter: 6 7/8 in. (17.46 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the Krieger Family in loving memory of Stella Krieger
Accession Number: M.2014.189
Classification: Jewelry and Adornments
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: Born in Illinois, Frederick Walter Davis was a silver designer and great promoter of Mexican art. He lived and worked in Mexico City, where he relocated in 1899, managing major arts and crafts showrooms at the Palacio de Iturbide and Sanborns department store. Along with Alfonso Caso (1896–1970), René d’Harnoncourt (1901–1968), and the painters Roberto Montenegro (1885–1968), Dr. Atl (1875–1964), and Miguel Covarrubias (1904–1957), Davis played a major role in the regeneration of Indigenous craftsmanship in Mexico, helping to revitalize many vanishing traditions. This exquisite necklace with pyramidal forms is based on a design by Valentín Vidaurreta. Vidaurreta, who started his career as a painter, is considered by most Taxco silversmiths the best of all designers.

Ilona Katzew

2014
Copyright: © artist or artist's estate

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Frederick Walter Davis
United States, active Mexico, 1878-1961
Artist or Maker: Valentín Vidaurreta
Mexico, 1902-1955
Title: Faceted Trapezoid Necklace (Collar con formas trapezoidales)
Date Made: circa 1940
Medium: Silver
Dimensions: 1 1/2 × 16 1/2 × 1 in. (3.81 × 41.91 × 2.54 cm); diameter: 6 7/8 in. (17.46 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the Krieger Family in loving memory of Stella Krieger
Accession Number: M.2014.189
Classification: Jewelry and Adornments
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: Born in Illinois, Frederick Walter Davis was a silver designer and great promoter of Mexican art. He lived and worked in Mexico City, where he relocated in 1899, managing major arts and crafts showrooms at the Palacio de Iturbide and Sanborns department store. Along with Alfonso Caso (1896–1970), René d’Harnoncourt (1901–1968), and the painters Roberto Montenegro (1885–1968), Dr. Atl (1875–1964), and Miguel Covarrubias (1904–1957), Davis played a major role in the regeneration of Indigenous craftsmanship in Mexico, helping to revitalize many vanishing traditions. This exquisite necklace with pyramidal forms is based on a design by Valentín Vidaurreta. Vidaurreta, who started his career as a painter, is considered by most Taxco silversmiths the best of all designers.

Ilona Katzew

2014