Herb Box (Yerbera)

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Special Things: Boxes in Spanish America

Opening a box invariably brings about a sense of wonder and discovery—even when we suspect what is inside. Small and portable, beautifully made boxes are designed to enclose special things; their exterior mirrors the precious commodities they contain, which are often kept under lock and key.

Herb Box (Yerbera)

Upper Peru, possibly Potosí, circa 1775-1790
Furnishings; Accessories
Cast, repoussé, and chased silver
9 13/16 × 11 × 7 7/8 in. (25 × 28 × 20 cm)
Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund (M.2020.159)
Not currently on public view

Provenance

Convento de las Monjas Capuchinas, Buenos Aires; Antonio Pérez Valiente de Moctezuma (b. Granada, Spain, 1895, d....
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.
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Label

Silver was closely associated with empire building in the early modern world.

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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)
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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.
  • 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.

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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