The arts of viceregal Mexico, 1521-1821: a confluence of cultures

Magazine Antiques, April, 2002 by David B. Warren

As in Europe and the United States, armorial porcelain was commissioned in China for the Mexican market in the late eighteenth century. These orders were placed through agents of the Compania des Indias, the Spanish equivalent of the English East India Company The platter shown in Plate XIX is part of a large service commissioned to celebrate the ascension of the Spanish king Charles JV (r. 1788-1808) to the throne of Mexico City in 1789. It bears the shield of Mexico City within a crowned roundel and a Spanish legend that can be translated, "On His Accession to the Throne of Mexico City on December 27, 1789." Sets like this, known as proclamation services, were apparently largely ceremonial and often pieces from a single service were distributed by the viceroy among prominent members of society.

The silver made in Mexico during the viceregal period is legendary, yet most of the surviving examples are ecclesiastical rather than domestic. The quest for the latest fashions by the Mexican aristocracy may account for the scarcity of domestic silver because the old was constantly being melted down to create the new. For the church, candlesticks and missal stands were important furnishings of the altar. The altar candlestick shown in Plate XXII is one of a pair that survives from a set of six. They bear a Spanish legend that may be translated, "Dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary on behalf of the Town Guild." They represent a style that was introduced in the second half of the seventeenth century and remained popular through much of the eighteenth century. Characteristic is the large circular base supported on four claw-and-ball feet, the large baluster stem, and the relatively small candleholder. Spanish colonial silver was required to be marked. Mexican silver bore four marks: the city of origin, the mak er's name, the assayer's name, and the quinto, or duty mark, indicating that the twenty percent royal tax had been paid. Interestingly, the symbol for the quinto was an eagle perched on a prickly pear. This is a direct reference to the Aztec legend of the founding of Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, whereby an eagle lit on a cactus on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, indicating the site for the new city This pair of candlesticks, surprisingly bears only two of the required marks--the quinto and the mark of the assayer. Juan de la Fuente, who was active in Mexico City It is thought that the missing marks may have appeared on the other candlesticks of the set. The magnificent missal stand, or lectern, shown in Plate XXI is in the relatively rare form of the double-headed eagle of the Hapsburg kings of Spain, who were also the Holy Roman emperors. The design, which may have originated in Castile, is documented in Mexico by 17l5. (4)

As early as the eighteenth century, cigarette smoking was widespread among Mexicans of all social classes and both sexes. As in Europe and the United States in the twentieth century, the practice led to the demand for luxury smoking paraphernalia by wealthy Mexicans. Notable are small, exquisitely crafted, late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century oval cigarette cases made of twenty karat gold, often in several contrasting colors, and frequently encrusted with precious stones (see Pl. XXIV).