Federico Jiménez Caballero

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.

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.

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.

Selected publication