15 November 2012

Course

HISPANIC AMERICAN ART IN NAVARRA

An art "of value" and uniqueness: Hispano-American silversmithing

Ms. Cristina Esteras.
Complutense University

Under this degree scroll we wish to highlight the importance of Hispano-American silverware and show through a selection of examples that it is an art of great "value" not only because of the materials used in its execution (gold and silver, in addition to precious stones, and especially Colombian emeralds), but also because of the high qualification involved in its execution work; In this sense, the Bogota monstrance known as "La Lechuga" can serve as a paradigm, as well as the one from the convent of Santa Teresa in Arequipa or the one from the convent of San Francisco in Quito.

This art of silverware is in itself loaded with singularities, since it is different (and therefore original) with respect to the Hispanic peninsular production, by introducing in the pieces new techniques and meanings of enormous symbolic load (as was done in the XVI century with the plumaria of the amantecas in Mexico and of which the chalice of the Condado de los Ángeles is a good example); as well as including new ornamental repertoires of native flora and fauna (llamas, vizcachas, tarucas or other animals from the high plateau of Peru, many of these gathered in the splendid potosina source of the evangelist church of Sigen, Westphalia). In addition, it is original for contributing new typologies in the XVIII century: such as the mates with their bulbs, the "hierbateras" and "coqueras", the "pavas-hornillo" (water heaters) or the firepans with animalistic forms that were found in the highlands of Peru; with all these and other civil and religious works, the aim was to satisfy the demands of a diverse and plural society that was subject to the regional variables marked by the coast, the highlands or the jungle.

Both in the case of Mexico and in the Peruvian Sierra in the 16th century there was a special form of language formed by pre-Hispanic signs and symbols that contained messages assimilable to both groups (Spanish and indigenous), which became necessary the more complex and hermetic the message, exemplified in a masterful way in the altar cross of the cathedral of Palencia; and for the Peruvian highlands the employment of the "tocapus" in the Inca ceremonial vessels (aquillas) of the pre-colonial and viceregal period; these signs are graphemes of Inca writing in the form of abstract geometric designs with mnemotechnical function, to help keep alive the historical report through these drawings.

The silverware of the viceregal period was born practically in parallel to the foundation of the cities, so as the most important ones date from the central years of the XVI century it is in these years when the beginning of the history of this art is fixed, to find its decline after the Independence. In America there were many artistic centers spread throughout its vast territory, but undoubtedly the most notable and important ones were in those places of greatest power (in the capitals of the two most important Viceroyalties: in Mexico and Lima) and also around the mining districts.
 

Sahumador of private collection
It was carved in republican times (XIX century) as indicated by the Peruvian coat of arms that is superimposed on it.
The piece perfectly imitates the shape of an armadillo.

source preserved in the evangelical church of Sigen (Westphalia) and donated by Prince Maurice of Nassau in 1658. 
It was made in Potosí around 1586

Chalice from the Los Angeles County Museum (California), Mexican, circa 1575.