A Peruvian Silver
Missal Cover
Author
Anonymous Puno? Cusco?, Peru Circa 1710
Silver in color; embossed, cast, and glossed-punched
Measurements
30 cm high, 22 cm wide and 8 cm on spine
Provenance
The Apelles Collection - Carlos Alberto Cruz, Chile - England
A Peruvian Silver Missal Cover
Matching the start of the hinges for the closures, and with half of the cord ribbon next to the spine, it carries the figurations of angels-mermaids. The back cover is decorated in a similar manner, except that, in the central cartouche, it carries the anagram MAR under a crown. Concerning the spine, it shows seven smooth nerves which partition respective spaces, where all equal spread flowers are placed, capping, on the upper part, in a semicircular piece from which colored silk ribbons are hanging (partitions), still preserved today. This piece, as well as the covers have hinges crossed by a rod, which allow their handling for opening and closure.
Carved in silver,1 they were made with the purpose of binding and protecting a book, in this
case, the Missale Romanum ex Decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini Restitutum, PII Pont.
Max. Jessu Editum, et Clementis VIII. Primun, Nuc. Denuo Urbani Papae Octavi Autoritate Recognitum, published in Antwerp, in 1709, at Plantino´s print shop. It contains precious
engraved prints, with which the front page as well as some of the inner pages are illustrated. Evidently, this work is trying to imitate the artistic bindings made of fur, with golden wheels and irons, looking for different decorative effects, although now, the outcome certainly differs (except on the spine), because the ornamental subject is not the Renaissance´s, neither nor the so-called Spanish “popular style”, but the usual baroque vocabulary of the Andes or highland region (altiplano), where the piece was undoubtedly carved.
Taking into account that the missal was published in the famous Plantino´s print shop, in 1709, the work on the silver covers had to be compulsory done that same year or a little bit later, as it was not reused in another book, but, they are adapted in size and shape to the missal. Therefore, it may be dated around 1710, if we take into account the distance between Antwerp and Peru for its move, although never after 1725, because the style of the artwork does not go beyond the first quarter of the eighteenth century.
However, it is difficult to guess accurately, the place where they were carved, since in both regions (mountain range or highlands), the same elements from the ornamental repertoire were used. This vocabulary is perfectly traceable, the same in religious pieces: altarpiece fronts, monstrances, lecterns, tabernacles or even in the so-called mariolas (mayas),2 as
well as in those of profane use: coqueras (yerbateras),3 trays, etc., from the geographical area
extending from Cusco as far as the Lake shores. Now then, we are inclined towards some of the workshops in Puno (or the environment close to Lake Titicaca), given that, on the one hand, the angels-mermaids4 with pending and flat chests are usual in these silverwares
In Peru´s silverware, the use of abundant metal for any crafted piece is usual; thus, following this practice for the ellaboration of the covers and spine, it was preferred to use a thick and heavy silver plate, instead of cheaper materials, such as leather or velvet, and to enhance the artwork, a rich and dense decorative vocabulary was used, in which composition, the bilateral symmetry is not lost. It is an artwork of great baroque effect, thanks to the ornamental subject and the volume obtained for the different motifs, a volume skillfully highlighted upon shading the backgrounds with a compact gloss- punching, thus generating the light contrast effects.
For the time being, to our knowledge, it is the only Peruvian missal known with this richness of silver binding, something that turns this piece into a truly exceptional artwork.
NOTES
1. We reported it in the paper: “For the Viceregal Peru, new pieces”, Estudios de Platería. San Eloy 2011. University of Murcia, 2011, pp. 244 and 245, slide 3.
2. They are reproduced and can be observed in Cristina Esteras Martín: Platería del Perú Virreinal. 1535-1825, Madrid, 1997, nº 15, p. 109, nº 61, p. 207.
3. Ibidem, nº 32, p. 145, 75, p. 235.
4. For instance, the winged mermaids may be seen, among other pieces, on the foot of St Mamés de Aras´ monstrance (Cantabria) (in Cristina Esteras Martín.:”Orfebrería hispanoamericana. Siglos XVI-XIX, Madrid, Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana, 1986, nº 18, p. 52, and in the Cusco monstrances of Coya or Yucay (in Cristina Esteras Martín: “Luis de Lezana, silversmith at Cusco (1665-1713), Newsletter of the
Museum and Institute “Camón Aznar”, nº XLVIII-IL (1992), Figs. 6 and 7.
5. They are present, among other many pieces, in some lecterns, such as the one belonging to the former collection Prado de Lima, today at the Museum of Art of Lima or the Museum Pedro de Osma (Lima), and in fronts, such as the temple of Jesus and Mary, attached to the cathedral of Cusco (see Cristina Esteras Martín: “Acculturation and Innovation in Peruvian Viceregal Silverwork”, The Colonial Andes Tapestries and
Silverwork, 1530-1830, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale University Press, New Haven and