Posted by QuickReadAbout.com Staff in He was an American-born silversmith. But William Spratling single-handedly exerted the greatest influence on silver design in Mexico during the 20th century. He’s often referred to as “the father of Mexican silver.”
William was born in 1900 in Livingston County, New York. His mother and sister died and William and his father moved to his father’s boyhood home near Auburn, Alabama. Spratling graduated for Auburn University where he had majored in architecture. Over the years, Spratling made several visits to Mexico and he loved the country so much that he relocated to Mexico in 1929. He immersed himself in the Mexican art community. He enjoyed some real success there. He organized an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for the muralist, Deigo Rivera.
Soon thereafter, William Spratling bought a home in Taxco (a small town southwest of Mexico City). Silver mining was the main industry of Taxco but there was no Mexican silver working industry so Spratling started designing pieces that were based on pre-Columbian and traditional styles. He hired local goldsmiths to render his designs in silver. The fame of Spratling’s silver designs spread quickly and before long he started an apprenticeship program where he trained young artisans in the art of working with silver. Many of those apprentices, once they were trained, continued their work in the Taxco area. Time passed and by the early 1940’s, William Spratling was selling his silver designs in the United States as well as throughout Mexico. He moved his studio to his ranch and continued his work.
Mostly William Spratling’s designs were based on aboriginal Mesoamerican designs with influences of other western and native cultures mixed in. His work earned him the title “Father of Mexican Silver” and inspired Mexican artisans to create designs that were not European in nature.