ILVER  |
The Noble Art of Silbersmithing (as the craft
was known in colonial times), is represented in the
museum by one of the largest collection of secular and
religious objects produced over a period of four
centuries.
As early as the 16th century, the abundance of silver in Mexico attracted numerous adventurers who came to exploit deposits and make their fortunes. Interest increased as the extent of the deposits became known. Methods of mining and separating the silver from other metals improved as the industry became established. Besides mining, smelting and refining, the production of silver objects also flourished. Growing demand for silverware with religious and domestic uses encouraged the establishment of an ever increasing number of silversmiths. At the outset, craftsmen simply copied imported models; but as time went on their products acquired proper characteristics. |
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The exhibit includes a number of professional
crucifixes of the kind the Spaniards brought for
evangelizing. Others made in Mexico at about the same
time reveal a high level of skill and quality.
All the artistic styles are represented from the plateresque -with gothic and renaissance forms- to the neoclassical, including the various stages of the baroque. Although many pieces remain anonymous, many more bear the mark of the master silversmith who manufactured them, all adding to the history of silversmithing as an applied art. Innumerable pieces of silver were created in Mexico. Chronicles report a wealth of silverware that is somewhat hard to imagine today. Very few objects of secular use have come down to us. Because of their purely ornamental or monetary value many were turned into currency and others were melted down to be reworked according to the latest fashion. |
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