Artisans of Mexico: Taxco el Viejo

Now in a Ten Thousand Villages store near you – artisan jewelry from Taxco el Viejo.

We drove in to Taxco last night after dark with the twinkling lights of the houses nestled in the mountainside illuminating the beautiful colonial architecture and narrow cobblestone streets. After the exhausting two days of travel, the former 17^th century monastery converted hotel provided a beautiful and welcome relief to weary travelers.

Taxco is a picturesque town in the mountains of Guerrero that has been declared a national historical monument by the government which helps to preserve the colonial architecture that gives the town its character. While the 16^th and 17^th century silver mines have long since been depleted, the town is still lined with numerous silver shops, a main attraction for tourists.

After two intense days of car travel and early mornings, the 9am twenty minute combi (public transportation in a converted van) ride, post coffee, was a welcome relief. Ten Thousand Villages buys alpaca (metal alloy) with abalone jewelry from a cooperative in Taxco el Viejo, 8 miles from Taxco and the original site of the town of Taxco.

We were met at the entrance to Taxco el Viejo by Manuel, the administrator and leader of the cooperative that began in 1997, now with 15 members. At the workshop, seven to nine artisans were at various stages of the production of hummingbird pins. It was apparent that there was a healthy and friendly spirit among the group. Before we learned the techniques involved in each step, Manuel described the mission of the cooperative which is to improve the social conditions of the community and to provide employment. He also was proud to show us the new samples and designs that the group had recently produced.

The new tree of life pin is coming to stores near you in the fall, and we had the pleasure to see the process from beginning to end. Probably for our sake, each artisan was going to have a part of the production. And I was glad that today’s visit was so close to Taxco since the artisans showed on sense of urgency to bring the piece to completion.

First, Carlos sawed around the pattern of the tree of life, including the small areas where the abalone would be placed, from a sheet of alpaca. Another artisan soldered the pattern to another piece of alpaca, and again, the pattern was cut. The most intricate and time consuming part was shaving the larger pieces of the abalone so that they could fit into the small and different shaped areas of pin. Luis, who previously had enjoyed the camaraderie much more than any type of work, was in charge of this step in the process. He seemed to want to avoid getting involved, but when Manuel called his name, he ambled over to the machine to do his part. The last step before the pin was polished included filling in the spaces with resin. I must say that the final product was impressive, and I encourage you to look in the stores for their other pieces.

This group of artisans consistently produces high quality work which is obvious to those at Ten Thousand Villages because their jewelry is regularly on the best seller lists. As I relayed this news to the artisans through my translation, I had the sense that there was a deep sense of pride, and hopefully, they are encouraged to continue improving their techniques and designs.

With a better sense of the jewelry making process, I returned to Taxco in the evening ready to mine the silver shops for treasures.