COLONIAL SCHOOL Mexico, 18thC An escudo de monja (nun's badg...

Hammer

£7,500

COLONIAL SCHOOL Mexico, 18thC
An escudo de monja (nun's badge) depicting the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception above an allegorical scene depicting the divine shepherdess, good shepherd and women harvesting flowers. Oil on copper framed in tortoiseshell with silverwork.

For a similar frame please see the Metropolitan Museum of Art's example;
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/853450

These pieces of art would have been worn by nun's post a law passed in the 17thC restricting ornamentation. This escudo is unique in its depiction of females outnumbering the only male figure. Marcus Burke, senior curator at the Hispanic Society of America, discusses the feminist culture in 'Mexico, Thirty Years of Splendor.'

"One of the most remarkable aspects of Mexican society in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was the development of what can only be called a feminist cult in many urban orders of nuns."

More Information

Tortoiseshell frame; chip to bottom edge (11mm x 2mm) the frame is made from two pieces of tortoiseshell to the front and back, there is a visible join line on both sides. Cracks present on the interior tortoise shell frame and loss of a smaller silver flower. Very fine chip to top outer rim2mm wide and less than 1mm in depth. One silver flower on outer rim is bent. Nibble chips to outer rim of frame.

Glass over painting; nibble chips to outer rim and a large chip to right hand side (5mmx7mm).
Painting appears to be in good order, small loss to the rim under frame above Mary to the left approximately 6mm x 2mm. Possibly paint flecks to the right hand side.
Back of frame; scratches and scuffs throughout, line where the two pieces of tortoiseshell are joined. Circle of holes which correspond to the inner frame on the opposing side. small chips to surface.