Jewelry Unlimited 
20 March 2024
Jewelry Unlimited 
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Matilde Poulat

Group of coral, turquoise, and silver jewelry


Two bird bracelets, one set with cabochon coral and turquoise, the other set with coral; and an owl brooch, set with turquoise eyes; 1940s-50s
Sterling silver
Signed Matl to each
Bracelets 6.875 x 1.375 in and 7.75 x 1 in; brooch 2.25 x 2 in; Gross weight 80.7 dwts
estimate: $1,000–1,500
result: $2,096
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provenance: Property of a Texas Collector

This work will ship from Lambertville, New Jersey.

This item is subject to CITES regulations. Rago Wright LLC. cannot provide the required documentation needed for export out of the United States; therefore, this item is only eligible for domestic shipping.
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Matilde “Matl” Poulat

Matilde Poulat was educated as an artist and designer before turning her talents toward jewelry-making in the early 1930s. She signed her work “MATL,” combining her name with the Aztec word for water, “atl.” Poulat’s pieces are unique, described by William Spratling as “intensely Mexican and intensely her own,” with exceptional workmanship and an air of opulence and whimsy. By the 1940s, there was an intense demand for her work and among her admirers were her art school friends, Diego Rivera and his wife, Frida Kahlo, who became collectors of her jewelry. Following Poulat’s death in 1960, her designs were produced by her nephew, Ricardo Salas, and now Omar Gabriel Tadeo Juárez (fourth generation of the Poulat family) continues the jewelry-making tradition. Though no photographs seem to exist of Poulat, and little is known about her early life, her legacy as a jewelry designer and craftswoman lives on in her sumptuous, finely-made creations.

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