Unidentified artists
Batea (Tray) with Fête Galantecirca 1760-1780

Not on view

Circular painted tray or charger with jet-black ground, densely decorated with gold Baroque scrollwork, polychrome flowers, roosters, and small figurative scenes at the center and rim

Circular wooden tray or platter with a wide, shallow form, warm reddish-brown patina, and a carved or stamped repeating pattern along the rim; central surface shows wear and tool marks.

Painted decorative panel with black ground; central cartouche framed by gilt scrollwork depicts two figures in 18th-century dress beneath a weeping tree, one seated playing a guitar, the other standing beside a potted plant; surrounding border filled with densely painted gold arabesques, exotic flowers, and foliage in red, green, and gold.

Painted decorative panel on black ground, showing two figures in folk dress facing each other across a laden table, framed by elaborate gilt scrolling acanthus leaves and red and orange flowers.

Painted decorative panel on black ground with dense gilt acanthus scrollwork and red and green floral motifs framing a central vignette of two 18th-century figures: a seated woman in a red skirt beside a large basket, and a standing man in a red coat holding a hat, with a weeping willow behind them.

Painted decorative panel on black ground, with gilt Rococo scrollwork and stylized foliage framing a central scene of two figures in 18th-century dress beside a smoking brazier and a palm tree; red and gold floral accents throughout.

Painted decorative panel with black ground; two figures in 18th-century dress stand conversing at center, flanked by a small dog and a potted plant on a pedestal, surrounded by elaborate gilt acanthus scrollwork with red and orange floral motifs.

Artist or Maker: Unidentified artists
Title: Batea (Tray) with Fête Galante
Place Made: Mexico, Pátzcuaro (Michoacán)
Date Made: circa 1760-1780
Medium: Wood, lacquer, and paint
Dimensions: Diameter: 22 13/16 in. (58 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number: M.2020.12
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: 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)
Provenance: Collection of M. Jérôme Fourier, Paris; Galerie Terrades, Paris, 2018; 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. 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. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

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