Live Auction 7855Christie's Interiors - Masters & Makers
A MEXICAN SILVER INKWELL AND POUNCE POT EN SUITE, IN THE 18TH CENTURY COLONIAL MANNER
Lot 167

A MEXICAN SILVER INKWELL AND POUNCE POT EN SUITE, IN THE 18TH CENTURY COLONIAL MANNER

BEARING SPURIOUS MARKS FOR MEXICO CITY, PROBABLY LATE 19TH EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Closed30 October 2012

Price Realised

GBP 1,062

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A MEXICAN SILVER INKWELL AND POUNCE POT EN SUITE, IN THE 18TH CENTURY COLONIAL MANNER
BEARING SPURIOUS MARKS FOR MEXICO CITY, PROBABLY LATE 19TH EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Drum form on four claw and foliate feet, one with hinged cover and six apertures around the top, the other with pull-off cover engraved with stylised flower-heads forming lattice design, zig-zag assay scrapes to bases
4 in. high (10 cm.)
44 oz. (1386 gm.) (2)

Specialist note

The faking of Mexican silver is described in detail by Lawrence Anderson in vol.II of The Art of the Silversmith in Mexico 1519-1936, New York, 1975, ps. 306-352. Mostly pieces were deliberately faked from scratch but in some cases Mexican antique dealers took genuine unmarked Colonial era pieces and struck them with forged punches as marked pieces were much easier to sell.