“CHAROLA” PLATTER, Mexico City, 1673-1687
Weight: 1.799kg
Marks: male head over an M between crowned columns; eagle on a prickly pear and FVENTE; plus another mark: between crowned columns, a male head over a P (this initial is unclear). No zigzag assay gouge
Marks of ownership engraved on the back: a symbol (some kind of poker, located in the middle) and the letters MLIR (or MILR) at the end of the shorter axis.
Further images
This piece features an oval basin with mixtilinear profile, and a wide, flat outer border featuring two large, indented openings on the longer sides, the rest made up of straight edges alternating with concave gaps (numbering ten), symmetrically arranged throughout. There is also a prominent moulding along the edges. The shallow inner basin slopes gently down to the bottom from a moulded lip at the top. The entire piece is covered by naturalistic decorative motifs, most prominent among which are undulatingsided scallop shells with radiating grooves. There are four big concave ones arranged around the sides of the basin, and another four smaller ones making up a sort of quatrefoil on the very bottom. Further decorative motifs include winding plant stalks with little four-petalled flowers and enormous flat leaves distributed across the entire surface, both the basin and the flat outer border. The decoration has been executed using delicate repoussé work and, to highlight the motifs, the free surfaces feature “picado de lustre” punchwork.
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