Unidentified artist
Side Table (Mesilla)last third of the 18th century

On view:

Geffen Galleries, Spanish America at the Center of the World

Small pedestal table with circular top and octagonal base, covered in allover mother-of-pearl mosaic inlay set in dark wood with scalloped apron and architectural motifs on the stem

Dark-patinated bronze base viewed from below, octagonal form with eight rounded boss feet, circular hollow at center revealing a square tang with recessed square mark.

Lower section of a vase or ewer densely encrusted with mother-of-pearl inlay in interlocking arabesque and cloud-scroll patterns, set on a hexagonal dark wood base with small bun feet and floral mother-of-pearl inlay along the apron.

Circular decorative panel inlaid with mother-of-pearl pieces, densely arranged in interlocking scrolling and cloud-like forms radiating from a central floral motif, outlined with dark lacquer or resin, with an iridescent silvery-white surface.

Artist or Maker: Unidentified artist
Title: Side Table (Mesilla)
Place Made: Guatemala (for export market, possibly Peru)
Date Made: last third of the 18th century
Medium: Wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, and silver
Dimensions: Height: 29 1/8 in. (74 cm); diameter: 25 9/16 in. (65 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number: M.2019.264.2a-b
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: A mesmerizing pattern of hearts and leaves in shimmering, opalescent shell fragments covers all surfaces of this side table. In Lima, intricately decorated tables like this one and matching sewing boxes (M.2019.264.1) were displayed in the salón de estrado (sitting room or parlor), a domestic space for women. The parlor served as a gathering or private place for the ladies of the house and their guests, who reclined on pillows and tapestries instead of sitting on chairs.

Because of their materials and their designs that vaguely resemble Asian decorative arts, these works have been difficult to categorize. Scholars have suggested that they were imported aboard the famous Spanish trading ships—known as the Manila Galleons—that traveled annually between the Philippines and Mexico. But archival and material documentation suggests that such works originated in Guatemala, where mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell were harvested locally and considered prized commodities. Many items made of these materials were exported to Mexico and Peru. The designs draw on a range of European and Asian sources, which local artists creatively reinterpreted.

Ilona Katzew

2024
Provenance: Celedonio Pereda (1860–1941), Buenos Aires, late 19th–early 20th century (likely from the Palacio Pereda, today Embassy of Brazil); by inheritance to his son Jorge Pereda (1907–1982), Buenos Aires, 1941; by inheritance to his son Jorge Pereda Bullrich (d. 2017); Saráchaga Auctions, Buenos Aires, May 14, 2013, lot 663; Jaime Eguiguren Art & Antiques, Buenos Aires, 2013; LACMA, 2019.
Selected 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.
Selected Exhibition History: Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

Related Exhibitions

Related Unframed

Unidentified artist
Side Table (Mesilla)last third of the 18th century

On view:

Geffen Galleries, Spanish America at the Center of the World

Artist or Maker: Unidentified artist
Title: Side Table (Mesilla)
Place Made: Guatemala (for export market, possibly Peru)
Date Made: last third of the 18th century
Medium: Wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, and silver
Dimensions: Height: 29 1/8 in. (74 cm); diameter: 25 9/16 in. (65 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number: M.2019.264.2a-b
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: A mesmerizing pattern of hearts and leaves in shimmering, opalescent shell fragments covers all surfaces of this side table. In Lima, intricately decorated tables like this one and matching sewing boxes (M.2019.264.1) were displayed in the salón de estrado (sitting room or parlor), a domestic space for women. The parlor served as a gathering or private place for the ladies of the house and their guests, who reclined on pillows and tapestries instead of sitting on chairs.

Because of their materials and their designs that vaguely resemble Asian decorative arts, these works have been difficult to categorize. Scholars have suggested that they were imported aboard the famous Spanish trading ships—known as the Manila Galleons—that traveled annually between the Philippines and Mexico. But archival and material documentation suggests that such works originated in Guatemala, where mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell were harvested locally and considered prized commodities. Many items made of these materials were exported to Mexico and Peru. The designs draw on a range of European and Asian sources, which local artists creatively reinterpreted.

Ilona Katzew

2024
Provenance: Celedonio Pereda (1860–1941), Buenos Aires, late 19th–early 20th century (likely from the Palacio Pereda, today Embassy of Brazil); by inheritance to his son Jorge Pereda (1907–1982), Buenos Aires, 1941; by inheritance to his son Jorge Pereda Bullrich (d. 2017); Saráchaga Auctions, Buenos Aires, May 14, 2013, lot 663; Jaime Eguiguren Art & Antiques, Buenos Aires, 2013; LACMA, 2019.
Selected 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.
Selected Exhibition History: Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

Related Exhibitions

Related Unframed

A Scavenger Hunt for Families through Archive of the World

October 5, 2022
Rachel Kaplan