- Title
- Plate (Plato)
- Date Made
- 19th century
- Medium
- Silver
- Dimensions
- Height: 1/2 in. (1.27 cm)
Diameter: 7 1/8 in. (18.1 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2015.37.1
- Collecting Area
- Latin American Art
- Curatorial Notes
This simple yet elegant plate is representative of the tradition of colonial silverwork. Silver was highly valuable and deeply embedded in the complex history of Latin America. The discovery of silver in the sixteenth-century in Mexico and the Peruvian highlands sparked an insatiable demand for the precious metal which was met with aggressive mining practices and the exploitation of indigenous labor forces. Exorbitant profits further fueled the burgeoning of the silver industry. This plate carries stamps which directly reference the historical context. Hallmarks were added not as a sign of authorship, but rather in compliance of the law, acknowledging that proper taxes had been paid and that the silver was of a certain standard. Because these markings corresponded to local regulations, they today serve as indications of their respective places of origin. This plate bears a castle and a crowned lion drawn from the coat of arms of Ciudad Real de Chiapas and referencing Spanish authority.
Ellen Dooley, Assistant Curator, Latin American Art
