ANTONIO PINEDA - Mexico (1919-2009)* Solid silver bracelet (970 thousandths) with openwork square links adorned with blackened silver concave discs centred with cultured pearls. Signature to the crown of Antonio Taxco, Master of Modernism. Length: 17.4 cm. Gross weight: 113.1 g. Antonio Pineda is a world-renowned modernist master of silver jewellery. Born in Taxco in 1919, he spent a large part of his life in the town, which became the international centre for modernist silverwork and jewellery between 1930 and 1970. He opened a workshop there in 1939, where he produced some of the most technically advanced jewellery in Modernism. Between 1940 and 1960, Mexico was recognised as the world's leading producer of silver. The price of this metal for manufactured goods increased fiftyfold during this period, making the silver jewellery industry a significant part of the Mexican economy.