The Art of Silver in Mexico

Silver has long been associated with a wide range of human activities: from magic to medicine. Humanity has left its imprints on silver by using it as the noble material on which to engrave its history. The word “sterling” also emerged during this period; on account of the precious coins John Lackland ordered to be minted so as to proclaim himself King instead of his brother Richard the Lion Hearted, who had been kidnapped.

The Discovery of America gave rise to the interchange of knowledge and techniques between both continents, a historical fact of considerable importance. The abundance of metals in America would transform history with the modification of the economy and the fortification of empires. During a time all Europe was fascinated by these treasures.

New Spain actively took part in all this fantastic reality, making history with its magnificence and wealth. The colonial miners in New Spain- most of them “criollos”, that is, of European descent- were recognized by the Kings of Spain as guests of the nobility. This is why elegant cities like San Luis Potosi or Zacatecas emerged in those places where mining flourished. The colonial period is rich in legends about marriage festivities celebrated on streets covered with silver. Rules, statues and ordinances were continually established to regulate the refinement, manufacture and purity of silver.

 Chalice, 16th Century, about 1560
Chased silver, partially gilded
Anonimous
9 5/8" x 5 15/16"

From its inception, the Casa de la Moneda de la Nueva Espana (the official colonial mint) excelled in the rigorous quality of its silver work. When new Spain ruled the Philippines, the currency produced in Mexico began to circulate widely through Asia, making Mexican silver coins the first legal tender to be used worldwide.

Artistic work in silver was enriched by the explosion of inventiveness and form that arose with the encounter between two continents. Churches imposed a violently beautiful style and people modeled all kinds of creative fantasies with the noble metal. New churches were filled with objects in silver and gold; entire altarpieces served to display an increasingly widespread art, rhapsodized by the Old World. Each altar featured decorations, splendors, lecterns, candelabra, stands, censers, and naviculas: the entire religious repertory manufactured with the highest quality. Each chapel, each small shrine and each enormous church featured marvelous treasures.

The opulence of silver inscribed its gentle splendors over everyday life, and people were known to say that water had to be contained in splendid silver vessels, for the remedial qualities of the metal were thought to purify water. This clearly shows the wide variety of uses for silver. The nobility and the privileged classes not only had silver applied to handles of their firearms, they also commissioned diverse objects to be manufactured, including salt shakers and the stirrups featured in the Mexican “charro” outfit. Religious silver work was not alone in receiving elaborate treatment: silver objects commissioned by lay citizens reveal the personal imagination inscribed in each piece. Dinner services and silverware, flower vases and buckles, fountain pens and desk materials, locks and hinges… countless objects which are difficult to imagine now in all their grandeur.

It is important to recall those objects that were the invention of Mexican ingenuity and skill: chocolate receptacles and “mancerinas” (saucers made especially to place shaped cookies around a holder for cups of chocolate.) The “mancerina” was held with the hands during the daily ritual of conversation over a hot cup of chocolate. Another elegant decorative object that rendered a further dimension to everyday life was the “braserillo”, or small brazier (a tray with a small holder attached to the side,) with which servants could offer cigarettes to the liberated women of the colonial aristrocracy.

As a country entirely devoted to mining throughout the colonial period, Mexico produced a marvelous artistic craft.