rosary workshop - Museum - Private Collection
 SPANISH COLONIAL CRUCIFIXES
FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTOR
A wonderful opportunity to see the transition of design from the 1700s through the 1800s

1700 - 1750 +    1725 - 1750
1750 - 1800 +   1800 -  1825
HACIENDA CHAPEL CRUCIFIX
 

~ 1700 - 1750 ~

~ 1725 - 1750 ~

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 This piece is dated from about 1725-1750 and is made out of almost three ounces of Spanish Colonial Silver!! The style has complete indigenous influence with the head dress, feathers and tree branches sprouting out of the ground. This one adds a bit of “education for the masses”. At the base of the feet of Jesus is Maria, the mother of Jesus, and Maria Magdalena.
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This is the only cross from this period I have and the only one that tells the story of the crucifixion so clearly! I had the top blue and red stones restored on this piece, because I felt the color was important to the indigenous population, and this is how the cross would have looked 250 years ago. It measures 5 inches by 3 inches

This silver cross is part of a large private collection of Spanish Colonial, military, religious artifacts and silver owned by a very traditional and respected family in Lima, Peru,

~ 1750 - 1800 ~

While inventorying a vast collection of Spanish Colonial religious art this week, we came across a leather bag of un-restored silver crosses. The bag had a note that said,(I’m translating), “found near an excavation along side the village church of Andahuaylillas [ a magnificent church built between the 13th - 14th century ] Cusco Peru”.
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The cross is 4 inches by 2 ¼ inches. It is definitely indigenous. It has one of the little side crosses still attached. The hanger for the missing cross on the other side is still there as well. It is the only one of its kind, I can assure you. The corpus is naturally worn from years of adoration and prayer by the former owner. It is beautiful.

~ 1800 - 1825 ~

 The style has definite indigenous influence with the head dress, feathers and loin cloth. It measures 5 inches by 3.5 inches and is very unique because it shows the gradual change of style from indigenous to the start of European influences on the silversmiths work. Maybe influenced by the clients!
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This silver cross is part of a large private collection of Spanish Colonial, military, religious artifacts and silver owned by a very traditional and respected family in Lima, Peru.

~ HACIENDA CHAPEL CRUXIFIX ~

This is an incredible piece from an Arequipa, Peru family who last year consigned a large share of their Hacienda Chapel contents to us here in Miami, Florida. After acquiring the necessary permits last month from the Instituto Nacional de Cultura, we have finally been able to bring these pieces into the U.S.A. and are starting to offer them in our auctions. This process has taken 18 months!
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this cross has been in a family Family Chapel for over 150 years. The elements on the cross are pure silver,( Including the corpus ), the cross itself was replaced by the family about 30 years ago, when the wood was eaten by termites. The cross was then restored using a silver alloy material, with the original elements put back in their correct positions. I asked the family why they had not just replaced the cross with wood again? They said “times were better 30 years ago and we could afford to have our jeweler replace it with metal”. Go figure!