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Order By Fax 239-437-2455
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Atocha Coins Atocha Jewelry Atocha Rings Atocha Bracelets
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PRELIMINARY REPORT ON SILVER OBJECTS OF THE ATOCHA The discovery of the Nuestro Senora de Atocha’s primary cultural deposit by the team at Treasure Salvors, inc., has allowed a glimpse into a period of Spanish colonial rule that is oniy scantily described and whose written record makes little mention of cultural miscegenation except by indirect reference. These dynamic changes were most strongly felt in the colonial centers of power, Lima and Potosi for example, which were also centers of commerce. Evidence of this change is clearly seen in the silver artifacts recovered by Treasure Salvors from the Atocha. |
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| There is no doubt that the Spaniards encountered in their conquest indigenous peoples highly skilled in metallurgy. The accounts of the first contacts with the Aztecs by Hernan Cortez are rife with descriptions of the wonderful objects and the vast amounts of silver and gold available to local artisans, it stands to reason that the Spaniards, after the consolidation of their power, would turn to the more relined activities of western civilization. The rule of transplanted nobility produced the demand for craftsmen of many types. | |
| Certainly the very best and most sought alter artisans in Spain and elsewhere in Europe were not the first to jump on the boat. Those of perhaps lesser skill may have been the earliest, but as time went by better quality craftsmen appeared in the New World and duplicated the current fashions in Spain. Those early craftsmen probably used the indigenous artisans in the manufacture of the silverware for the ruling class, the church and for export to Spain. As a result of this period of adaptation and assimilation of the Spanish culture by the Indians and vice versa, a unique pattern with cultural and artistic roots in both the Old and New Worlds began to emerge. | |
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The silver artifacts from the, Atocha reflect this assimilation in many ways. The majority of the work is plainly Spanish with regard to design and function. But there are many examples that display characteristics in both construction and decorative motifs that plainly have their roots in the days before the Conquest. The construction of many of the pieces tends to be simplistic with sloppy soldering and multi-component construction, in many cases poorly executed, and points to technologies that were applied for convenience quantity rather than quality. Some of the silver items are classic European types, such as the small pitchers known as ewers. On Old World examples many of the spouts were adorned with grotesque faces; on many of their New World counterparts, the face has distinctly Indian features and applied designs. |
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Two plates show their origins in graphic ways. Plate I was retrieved from a stack of three fused together by sulphides and calcium deposits. The surface was taken down to a level so the design could be illustrated and photographed. Attempts at conservation removed some of the details, as much of the plate has turned to sulphides. The plate itself is scalloped with a raised center showing a fanciful bird in a heraldic type of shield. This reflects a distinct Spanish influence. The rim, however, is a story in pictures that shows Indians involved in daily activities. These include planting corn, dancing and using llamas as pack animals. The stone houses with circular towers on the rim look like representations of castles. It has been suggested that the Inca also had stone wayside houses for travelers using the great roads that connected their centers of empire. A distinct type of large volume cup recovered in stacks of two’s and three’s shows almost pure Indian manufacture. Except lot depictions of lions, a man clad in pantaloons and stockings blowing a trumpet, and a rider on a horse beneath which appears a dismembered arm, these could be pre-contact type cups. They have been tentatively ascribed to the drinking of a bittersweet beverage made from coca. |
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From The Archives Of
The Search For The Atocha |
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