Inkstand with three recipients on an elliptical salver-like tray, ed by four winged claw feet with a feathered crest made up of sheets and scrolls. The center of the pen box, which has four holes in the corners, boasts a cast and chiseled relief on its front alluding to the founding of the imperial capital of the Mexica: the eagle of Tenochtitlan grasping a snake in its beak. Perched on a prickly pear, it is accompanied by a bow and quiver placed at its feet.
With a prismatic shape, an amphora, with a central frieze in the upper third section and concave neck, serves as a plinth, whose truncated cone recipient with a concave-convex contour, is set against the small bell of the upper surface, which fits into its mouth as a lid. This appears as a balustered handle finishing in a small pot. To each side, the inkwell and sand vessel, with cone-shaped feet and cylindrical body with a semi-spherical base, adopt the design of the classic vases with two curved, symmetrical, rod-shaped handles. Both have truncated cone lids with concave sides, rounded off by a semi-spherical cap and dial on top in the shape of small vases.
With borders and edges worked mechanically, in diamond shapes, beaded, roped and woven with oblique lines, the only adornments of the piece are the lion heads with hanging rings from their jaws on the central vase, the hooked feet and the central emblem, of which the meaning in the last two cases is directly related to the symbolism of Independence.[1] A deeply rooted allegorical motif following the proclamation of the Republic in 1824, its presence was almost compulsory on ink stands, braziers and other civil works made from then onward.[2]
We find diverse marked pieces like this type of inkstand, generally from the period of the assayer Cayetano Buitron (1823-1843).[3] All of them respond to a fully neoclassical creation, and except for a few differences like the presence of the relieved railing, the handles at a right angle to the small pots and the type of cast s, the work is practically identical to another example from this particular collection,[4] both with the eagles of Independence on the front relief of the base that s the central amphora, decorated in the same way on the frieze with four heads, which are in this case female. This holds the sieve lid for the sand used to dry the ink. This smooth type of with a staggered edge with a concave contour was common both for table inkstands as it was for braziers.
From the complete marking system, we know that this piece was made in Mexico after the proclamation of the Republic in 1824, as proven by the locality seals, in this case without the royal crown; the tax seal and that of the assayer Cayetano Buitron. The first of the stamped imprints (AGODERE) corresponds to its author, who we identify without a doubt as the silversmith Antonio Goderes or Godere. Cited in 1831 in a document from the General National Archive (book from the assay's house of Mexico),[5] this clerk's office considers it of interest to include a new piece of work in their artistic catalog, which to date are known as a dish and six plates auctioned in Christie's in 1996. In reference to these considerations, we can place the work between 1830 and the end of Buitron's incumbency in 1843.
[1]. See, for example, the ink stand from the Siegel collection made by the silversmith Miguel M. Martel in 1830, with an eagle on the prickly pear and claw feet with a feathered crest. AA VV, 1994: page 101, nº 213.
[2]. Esteras Martin, 1992: pages 327-328.
[3]. Cf. Valle-Arizpe, 1941: fig. 97, IV and 113, II; Anderson, 1941, II: fig. 53 and 142; Esteras Martin, 1992: pages 274-275, nº 109; and AA VV, 1994: page 103, nº 214.
[4]. Cover illustration of the catalog Mexico y su plata. Cf. Mexico y su plata, 1980.
[5]. Anderson, 1941, I: page 392.
Sources:
AA VV, La Plateria Mexicana, Mexico, INAH, 1994.
Esteras Martin, Cristina,La plateria del Museo Franz Mayer. Obras escogidas. Siglos XVI-XIX, Mexico, Franz Mayer Museum, 1992.
Valle Arizpe, Artemio de, Notas de Plateria, Mexico, Polis, 1941.
Anderson, Lawrence,El arte de la plateria en Mexico, 1519-1936, New York, Oxford University, 1941.
Mexico y su plata, Mexico, Ediciones de Arte Comermex, 1980.
