Art nouveau design in vintage Mexican silver jewelry

 Art Nouveau is the French term for “New Art.”

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Art Nouveau movement sought to remove the barriers between the fine and applied arts. Traditionally art had been separated into the distinct categories of fine art (painting and sculpture) and applied arts (ceramics, furniture, and other utilitarian objects). Propenents believed that art should be part of everyday life, and that even the most practical objects should not be overlooked by art. This was a radically new approach to art, and thus the name New Art.

As noted in Wikipedia, Art Nouveau is “characterized by organic, especially floral and other plant-inspired motifs, as well as highly stylized, flowing curvilinear forms.”

One of the most successful expressions of the Art Nouveau style was jewelry. Using the sensuous organic forms of Art Nouveau, jewelers such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, Karl Fabergé, René Lalique, Georges Fouquet (to name a few) created extraordinarily beautiful and original jewels inspired by nature and mythology.

Art Nouveau was on the wane by the time Fred Davis arrived in Mexico City and after World War I gave way to more rational styles such as Art Deco. Still, a number of the famous designers of Mexican silver jewelry working in Taxco and other parts of Mexico during the 20th century (including Margot de Taxco and Los Castillo) were inspired by the elegance, sensuality, flamboyance of Art Nouveau and created magnificent pieces of jewelry reflecting the best attributes of Art Nouveau.

A few pieces of vintage Mexican silver jewelry in the Art Nouveau style are currently up for auction on eBay:

For more information about Art Nouveau, a good place to start is the Art Nouveau section of the Google Directory.