Featherwork. Mexico. Novohispanic. End of 18th... Lot 1

Featherwork. Mexico. Novohispanic. End of 18th century. Colonial. "Our Lady of Bethlehem" Featherwork on a metal plaque, with a multitude of small, richly coloured feathers. The faces and hands are painted in oil. 34 x 24 cm. The vividness and enormous variety of the colouring of the feathers on this piece are outstanding, giving it an iridescent effect depending on the light. Its magnificent state of preservation is also outstanding. When they arrived in Mexico, the Spanish were impressed with the importance the people there gave to the use of feathers. Hernán Cortés, in 1519, sent feathered fans, helmets and shields to Spain. In 1524 he sent a present of a work of art made using featherwork to King Charles V, and later, in 1527, Cortés sent 38 featherwork pieces to Asia. Evangelisation changed the subject matter of the art, and the “amantecas” (artists who worked with feathers) began to use this stunning technique to create religious images, many of which were sent to Europe and Asia. Various examples were sent to different popes in Rome, who in turn gave them as presents to the nobility. This is the reason why some of these featherwork pieces can be found in important European museums. One of the oldest pieces of featherwork art with a Christian theme is the “Mass of Saint Gregory,” made in 1539 as a gift for Pope Paul II, and which is kept in the Musée des Jacobins de Auch, in France. Another important piece, made by Juan Correa in the 19th century, “Saint Luke painting the Virgin”, can be found in the Musée de l’Homme in Paris. Furthermore, a few other examples have been preserved, the most noteworthy of which include those at the Archbishopric of Puebla, the Franz Mayer Museum, the Museo de América in Madrid, the Tepozotian Museum, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, and the Museo Nacional de Colombia in Bogota. The Museo de América in Madrid has thirteen examples of this marvellous featherwork ar