Tray (Batea)

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Tray (Batea)

Mexico, Pátzcuaro (Michoacán), circa 1760-1780
Furnishings; Serviceware
Wood, lacquer, and paint
Diameter: 22 13/16 in. (58 cm)
Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund (M.2020.12)
Not currently on public view

Provenance

Collection of M. Jérôme Fourier, Paris; Galerie Terrades, Paris, 2018; LACMA, 2019.

Label

In the region of Michoacán, in west-central Mexico, inlaid lacquered objects belonged to an ancient and refined tradition.

...

In the region of Michoacán, in west-central Mexico, inlaid lacquered objects belonged to an ancient and refined tradition. When the Spaniards arrived in the 1500s, Indigenous artists adapted the technique to new types of artifacts. The inflow of Asian objects and the European craze for lacquer (chinoiserie and japanning) inspired local artists to create their own versions, garnering fervent admiration. This batea is richly decorated with Rococo motifs and evokes elite leisure activities—some with local flair (including the dispensing of hot chocolate). Eloquently described by an eighteenth-century author as a “diphthong” (in reference to combinations of vowels that produce a new sound), the bateas’ integration of various materials and patterns exemplifies the creative reinvention of lacquered luxury goods in New Spain.


From exhibition Archive of the World, 2022 (for more information see the catalogue entry by Ilona Katzew in the accompanying publication, cat. no. 74, pp. 291–97)
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Bibliography

  • Katzew, Ilona, ed. Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800: Highlights from LACMA’s Collection. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books/D.A.P., 2022.

Exhibition history

  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800 Los Angeles, CA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800 Nashville, TN, Frist Art Museum, October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024