Sanborns Mexico Sterling Silver Oval Center Bowl — 29 Troy Oz., 902.6g

A full two troy pounds of hand-worked Mexican sterling, shaped into a lobed melon form that rises from a shared oval foot and opens into a broad scalloped rim. Each rounded lobe flows cleanly upward before meeting the decorative band — a continuous repoussé rose frieze wrapping the exterior at mid-body, full-blown cabbage roses alternating with deeply veined foliage, every motif chased against a finely stippled ground that pushes the floral relief into sharp relief. Above it, a pierced gallery at the rim carries the same rose vocabulary in openwork — flowers suspended against a lacy ground — giving the bowl a layered, almost architectural quality at the lip. Twin ring handles emerge from applied floral mounts at each end, the rings framed by rose clusters: an unusual degree of integration between hardware and ornamental program that marks this as a considered commission rather than a stock production piece.

The underside carries the Sanborns Mexico eagle-head cartouche stamped STERLING, the Mexican government assay confirmation of 925 silver content. At 902.6 grams — approximately 29 troy ounces — this is not a decorative gesture. It is a substantial object with real silver weight behind it, the kind of centerpiece that occupied the top of the Sanborns retail range and crossed the border throughout the postwar decades as trousseau gifts, diplomatic offerings, and deliberate purchases by buyers in the southern New Mexico and El Paso corridor who knew exactly what Sanborns sterling represented.

Sanborns Hermanos was founded in Mexico City in 1903 by American brothers Walter and Frank Sanborn, initially as a pharmacy. The enterprise grew into something far more culturally embedded: by the 1920s, the flagship Casa de los Azulejos — a seventeenth-century Baroque palace sheathed in Talavera tile in the historic centro — housed restaurant, pharmacy, bookstore, and gift shop under one roof, becoming a destination that served presidents, artists, and foreign dignitaries alike. The silver department sourced and retailed hollowware under the Sanborns name, produced by skilled Mexican silversmiths working in a repoussé and chasing tradition rooted in colonial-era craft and refined through the mid-century boom in Mexican decorative silver. Sanborns sterling of the postwar decades is characterized by heavy gauge, hand-worked floral ornament, and the eagle-head quality cartouche — a Mexican federal assay mark guaranteeing sterling standard. The rose repoussé pattern seen here, with its stippled ground, integrated handle mounts, and pierced gallery, represents the upper register of that production. In mid-century Mexico, a Sanborns sterling centerpiece occupied the same cultural register as a Tiffany bowl on a North American sideboard — and was understood as such on both sides of the border.

CONDITION

Good. Surface carries overall tarnish, light scratching, and handling marks consistent with use and age — polishing is left to the next owner. Repoussé and chased detail remains crisp throughout, the pierced gallery is intact, and both handles are secure on their mounts.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall: 3" H × 13¾" W × 9" D
• Weight: 902.6 grams (approx. 29 troy oz.)
• Material: Sterling silver (925)
• Maker: Sanborns, Mexico City, Mexico
• Marks: Sanborns Mexico eagle-head cartouche; STERLING
• Campbell's Soup Can (4" H) Shown for Scale — Not Included