Lot 229
**Originally Listed At $1200**
North America, Mexico, Spanish Colonial Period, ca. 18th century CE. A pair of beautifully rendered repousse and openwork 92% silver panels designed to grace the front and back covers of a Bible, each featuring a motif of a turkey above a stylized rendering of the Golden Rose, a symbol of the Papacy. Fine details and floral motifs give each panel a lush appearance. The turkeys are a charming Mexican touch, celebrating the native bird and its striking plumage. Loops on the sides, a hinge between them, and a few small perforations for rivets show how these panels were once attached to the cover of a book. Silver-bound religious texts allowed people in the far flung corners of the vast Spanish Empire to maintain cultural ties with their deeply Catholic homeland - see another example from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2018.220). Size: 9.5" W x 7.8" H (24.1 cm x 19.8 cm); 12.8" H (32.5 cm) on included custom stand; silver is 92%.
Silver decorative items like these panels attest to the mineral wealth of the Spanish New World colonies. Indeed, from ca. 1575 to 1635 CE, the Spanish colonial city of Potosi (now in Bolivia), produced roughly half of the world's silver! Even after Potosi's production declined following a dramatic currency fixing scandal in the 1640s, elite Spanish colonists continued to use silver for devotional purposes and to display and flaunt their wealth. Woman wore silver heeled shoes, church statues had silver crowns and halos, and all types of items - books, furniture, etc. - gained silver panels like this to decorate them. These give us a wonderful idea the things an upper class Spanish colonial home would have contained.
Provenance: ex-private Hawaii, USA collection, 2002
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#150958
- Condition: The original hinge pin is lost. Very slight bending to form, but otherwise they are in beautiful condition with light patina. They have not been examined off of their stand, where they are held in place by metal hooks.
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|---|---|---|
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| $300 | $999 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $1,999 | $100 |
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| $5,000 | $9,999 | $500 |
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| $100,000 | $199,999 | $10,000 |
| $200,000 + | $20,000 |