Silverware in the Viceroyalty of Peru

Portatic. Gold, glaze, emeralds and rubies. Limeño workshop at the end of the centuryXVII (attribution). Museo de América, Madrid (Spain).

The Viceroyalty of Peru had a geographical extension that exceeded the limits of the Inca Empire, reaching, at a given moment of the Hispanic presence, from the Isthmus of Panama to the southern tip of South America, bordering mainly the Pacific Ocean but also part of the Atlantic Ocean. Political power was centralized in Lima and its richness in precious metals was legendary, developing, in particular, silverware.

Background

The display of the wealth of ornaments and precious metal jewelry of the inhabitants of the Inca civilization by the Spanish conquistadors happens, product of their greed, the discovery of mineral wealth.

The amount of gold, a metal that symbolized the Sun god, and silver, a metal that represented the Moon goddess in Inca mythology, dazzled these conquerors.

Arrival of gold and silver prospectors

Custody of the sun of sterling silver and enamel. Cusqueine School, last third of the centuryXVII. Museum of America.

When the first news of the riches found in the Inca Empire arrived in Europe, conquerors began to arrive with the desire to search for precious metals, sometimes finding veins by pure chance, given the abundance.

The rich Andean deposits were thus discovered at the time of the conquest. Suffice it to mention, as one of the many, the famous Potosí deposit, with six thousand smelting furnaces, located in the highlands of Upper Peru, today part of Bolivia, located at 4,000 meters above sea level.

In the year 1545, Potosí was home to 14,000 people. In 1610 there were already 160,000 inhabitants who lived on precious metals. In Europe, meanwhile, hardly the big cities exceeded this number of inhabitants.

Central Power

All the wealth found and extracted from the territory of the Inca Empire, which was in decline, and from the Viceroyalty of Peru, gave space for an intense social life although sometimes rebellious, which is why from Lima, where power was centralized, orders were given to intervene strongly to quench the metallic thirst, reduce the dazzled eyes and reduce the pompous waste of the peninsular foreigners.

King's Fifth

By royal ordinance from Spain, the Viceroy of Peru applied a tax to the extraction of metals, mainly gold and silver, called "Quinto del Rey", which reached the hands of the monarchy Spanish in bars of precious metal.

Silver deposits

It is estimated that there are two hundred silver deposits located in the territory of present-day Peru that were exploited in colonial times. Only in one of the deposits, located in Pasco, were two pieces of solid silver found, one of them weighing 368 kilos and the other weighing a little more than 150 kilos, in 1703.

Lima the Opulent

Being Lima, the thrice crowned city, the center of political and economic power, pageantry, magnificence, and a legendary court life were created at the same level as what happened in the opulent European monarchies.

Arrival of each new viceroy

The entrances to Lima of the new viceroys were especially lavish.

For the occasion, the streets were paved with silver bars from the city gates to the Viceroy's Palace. Arches in the style of the Roman Empire, adorned with paintings and sculptures, stood along the entire length of this same road.

Silver working techniques

The following were the silver working techniques in Peru from the viceroyalty era and that survive to date, being of special attraction for those who do tourism in Peru:

• Worship
• Buryed
• Gross
• Calado
• Blind
• Enameled
• Filigrana
• Recorded
• Incrusted
• Peinated
• Rejected
• Refusal
• Clear
• Trained
• United Kingdom