Convento de las Monjas Capuchinas, Buenos Aires; Antonio Pérez Valiente de Moctezuma (b. Granada, Spain, 1895, d. Buenos Aires, 1980), Buenos Aires; Horacio Porcel (1933–2016), Buenos Aires, late 1960s; Eguiguren Arte de Hispanoamérica (Javier Eguiguren), Buenos Aires, 2020; LACMA, 2020.

Silver was closely associated with empire building in the early modern world. In 1545, the Spaniards found the world’s richest silver deposit, the Rich Hill of Potosí (in present-day Bolivia), fueling a silverwork bonanza. Intricate objects such as this shell-shaped box signaled the wealth of viceregal society. Inspired by foreign prototypes, the container is ornamented with an artificial hunt or mock battle on the back, while the charming quirquincho (Andean hairy armadillo) on the lid lends an unmistakable local flavor. This type of box was used to store leaves of the popular yerba maté tea, as well as other substances, which accounts for its interior compartments.

From exhibition Archive of the World, 2022 (for more information see the catalogue entry by Ilona Katzew with Rachel Kaplan in the accompanying publication, cat. no. 84, pp. 326–30)

• 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.

• Ilona Katzew, “Special Things: Boxes in Spanish America,” Unframed, July 20, 2022, https://unframed.lacma.org/2022/07/20/special-things-boxes-spanish-america.