Federico Jiménez Caballero is a Mexican jewelry designer, collector, gallery owner, cultural promoter, and philanthropist based in the Los Angeles area. Born in Tututepec, Oaxaca, he is known for jewelry drawing on Indigenous Mexican and Native American traditions, for assembling collections of Mexican jewelry and folk art, and for promoting artists and collecting communities in Mexico and the United States.
Jiménez moved to the United States in 1967 and developed a career in Los Angeles as a jewelry artist, dealer, collector, and organizer of exhibitions and art-market events. His life is the subject of the memoir Federico: One Man's Remarkable Journey from Tututepec to L.A., published by the University of Arizona Press in 2021.
Early life
Jiménez was born and raised in Tututepec, a rural community in Oaxaca. He has described his family and cultural background as rooted in Mixtec Indigenous traditions. As a child and young man, he developed an interest in Indigenous jewelry, textiles, and material culture and began collecting objects from communities in southern Mexico.
He later studied and worked in Oaxaca City. After meeting Ellen Jimenez, he traveled to the United States and arrived in Los Angeles in 1967. The University of Arizona Press describes him as having initially come to the United States as a researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Jewelry and gallery career
After settling in Los Angeles, Jiménez began selling jewelry at flea markets and outdoor venues, including the Hollywood Swap Meet. His work combined silver with turquoise and other stones and drew upon Mexican Indigenous and Native American jewelry traditions.
He subsequently operated a series of retail galleries and jewelry businesses in the Los Angeles area. His customers included figures from the film and music industries. A 2023 profile in the Los Angeles Times identified clients including Cher, Elizabeth Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Whoopi Goldberg, Ali MacGraw, and Bruce Springsteen.
Jiménez's career encompassed both original jewelry design and the sale and promotion of historic and contemporary Mexican and Native American jewelry. He became known in Southern California as an ethnic-arts dealer and collector and participated in the development of a wider market for Indigenous jewelry and decorative arts.
Collecting and exhibitions
Jiménez and his wife Ellen assembled a collection of Mexican jewelry spanning pre-Hispanic, colonial, and twentieth-century work. In 1987, the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles presented The Federico and Ellen Jimenez Collection of Mexican Jewelry as part of its 80th-anniversary exhibitions.
Art critic Suzanne Muchnic reviewed the exhibition in the Los Angeles Times, describing the collection as demonstrating mastery of material, technique, and design. The exhibition included pre-Hispanic shell and stone ornaments, colonial jewelry, and modern work by Mexican designers including William Spratling and Antonio Pineda.
Jiménez also organized and produced art-market events. He produced the Pan-American Indian Art Show and Sale, a Southwest Museum benefit that brought together more than 250 dealers and approximately $2 million in Native American and Latin American art, artifacts, and books.
Antonio Pineda and Taxco silver
Jiménez played an intermediary role between major Taxco silversmiths and American collectors. Collectors Cindy Tietze and Stuart Hodosh credited him with introducing them to the work of Antonio Pineda, selling them their first Pineda bracelet, and introducing them personally to the artist. Their collection later became the basis of the Fowler Museum at UCLA exhibition and publication Silver Seduction: The Art of Mexican Modernist Antonio Pineda.
Federico and Ellen Jimenez were also among the financial supporters of the Fowler Museum exhibition and accompanying publication.
Millicent Rogers jewelry editions
Jiménez participated in the revival of jewelry designs by the collector and designer Millicent Rogers. Working with the Millicent Rogers Museum, he oversaw the production of an initial edition of 29 sterling-silver pieces based on Rogers's original drawings. The collection debuted in 1992, and selected designs continued to be sold by the museum.
Philanthropy and cultural work
Jiménez has supported cultural, educational, and philanthropic projects in both Mexico and the United States. The University of Arizona Press describes him as a philanthropist and the owner of a museum in Oaxaca City. His work has included promoting Indigenous artists, supporting museum exhibitions, and maintaining connections between collectors, artists, and institutions.
The Los Angeles Times has described him as a promoter of culture and the arts, a philanthropist, and a social activist.
Memoir
In 2021, the University of Arizona Press published Jiménez's memoir, Federico: One Man's Remarkable Journey from Tututepec to L.A., edited by Shelby Tisdale. The book recounts his childhood in Oaxaca, migration to Los Angeles, work as a jewelry artist and gallery owner, collecting, and philanthropic activities.
The book received an honorable mention in the Best Autobiography category of the 2021 International Latino Book Awards.
Selected publication
See also Native American jewelry Antonio Pineda William Spratling Millicent Rogers Mixtec
References