| A monumental pair of Spanish Colonial silver architectural panels,
probably 18th century. These panels are made up of alternating large and small
sections with high-relief embossing in the late Baroque style featuring scrolls,
shells and angels. The sections all come from one of those enormous silver
altars in Peru and Mexico such as the one illustrated inTaullard, A. "Plateria
Sudamericana" (Buenos Aires, Ediciones Peuser, 1947) plate 172. Several sections
have been moved from a horizontal to a vertical format, so it is clear that the
present arrangement is not the original one. The curved top sections are
probably not original to the altar, but are 19th century in date, added when the
sections were reassembled for another use. (It would be perfectly possible to
remount the sections as individual works of art.) They are 65 " high (five feet,
5 inches) and 9 " wide. They are of relatively thin silver mounted on a wood
backing. As might be expected, on close examination there are numerous cracks,
splits and old repairs. There are various numbers engraved here and there, but
there are no marks. These are very decorative pieces as well as being important
Colonial works of art. |
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