A set of altar candelabrum whose handle shape typology corresponds to the simplified model of the other pair of candelabrum in the collection, the baluster is shortened in this case, which resembles an angelic figure. At the same time, the neck extends and stretches culminating in a smooth and hemispherical body that rests its feet on said anthropomorphic . The configuration of the cup and base, and the decoration, made from mirrors with brace designs are virtually identical in both sets of candelabrum. Likewise, the model was also crafted in Oaxaca as a pair of candelabrum reveals in a private Mexican collection, with an angel on the handle according to the standardized variant in their workshops [1], and another pair with their souls in purgatory as s [2].

With skirts and overskirts and a square neckline, the militant angle sculpture assumes here, however, new forms with a diadem on its head with a marked cross and arms in a martial position instead of the stereotypical straight position. Unlike the previous pair, their broad wings provide two additional points of for the upper cup; therefore, the sculpture carries its weight with greater ease and without any apparent effort or stiffness.

An original pair featuring three little legs cast on top of those raised by the base. In the form of half anthropomorphic figures, armless and with a lower extension in three acanthus leaves, these hermes or monstrous of mannerist ancestry in the New Spain silversmiths and especially in the fertile lands of Puebla found a varied interpretation and application.

Therefore, they have been assigned the same chronology and origin as the other pair of candelabrum also found in this collection. In addition to the lack of markings, which are a general Puebla silver work standard, both sets have the same coarseness and stiffness in their execution, typical of a general, artisan workshop. Nevertheless, they have an obvious typological interest since they provide us with a model of an altar candelabrum that is clearly representative of the workshops of Puebla, which up until now we have paradoxically only located these specimens. Although monstrances, chalices and candelabrum with Atlantean angles on the handles were also made in Mexico, Oaxaca, and other New Spain centers, it was in Puebla where this type of angelic acquired, due to its urban and symbolic connotations, its distinct and emblematic expression.

[1]. Thus, its stereotype with the angelic model that appears in the monstrance of Cumbres Mayores (Huelva), dated from 1700-1715, or that of San Jerónimo Otla (Oaxaca). Cf. Heredia Moreno, 1980: volume I, p. 297, fig. 336, and volume II, p. 106; Palomero Paramo, 1992: pp. 56-57, no. 2; and Leo Martinez, 2011.

[2]. Cf. AA VV, 1994: p. 42, no. 88, and p. 44, no. 86.

Sources:

AA VV, La Platería Mexicana (Mexican Silver work), Mexico, INAH, 1994.

Heredia Moreno, Maria del Carmen, La Orfebrería en la provincia de Huelva (Silversmithing in the province of Huelva), Huelva, Diputacion de Huelva, 1980.

Leo Martinez, Jose Andres de, “… Al servicio del culto divino. (At the service of the divine worship). La custodia novohispana en Oaxaca” (The New Spain monstrance in Oaxaca), 2011. (Currently being published).

Palomero Paramo, Jesus, Plata labrada de Indias (Worked Silver from the Indies). Los legados americanos a las iglesias de Huelva (The American legacies to churches in Huelva), Huelva, Quincentennial Provincial Board of Huelva, 1992 (Patronato provincial de Huelva del Quinto Centenario).