Dani Ezor In 1739, the seventeen-year-old Henriette Julie Gabrielle de Lorraine, daughter of Louis de Lorraine, prince de Lambesc, was sent to Portugal to marry the 55-year-old Jaime de Melo, duc de Cadaval. While the two families were tied by a previous marriage, this union was of paramount importance. The…
Christina K. Lindeman In 1744, Antoine Pesne, court painter to King Frederick II called the Great (r. 1740-1786), painted portraits of Frederick’s sisters Luise Ulrike and Anna Amalie in masquerade costume (Figs. 1 and 2). The paintings marked the occasion of ceremonies held after Luise Ulrike’s wedding to the Swedish…
Susan Eberhard “The list of the King’s presents is complete;if you are not satisfied, that is your problem.”[1]—Abbé de Choisy, Ayutthaya, November 11, 1685 Introduction: A Silver Chocolatière with a Bamboo Spout Studies in early modern diplomatic history have focused on the role of gifts in navigating cultural difference and…
James Middleton The Denver Art Museum recently acquired an eighteenth-century Mexican portrait miniature painted on silver (Fig. 1). Datable to about 1770 by the sitter’s accessories and hairstyle, it represents a young woman wearing her era’s most formal garment, a court gown.[1] Why was she painted on such a luxurious…
José Andrés De Leo Martínez Entre 1718 y mediados del mismo siglo, en los talleres de Puebla de los Ángeles de la Nueva España, se realizaron una serie de cálices de plata con formas y elementos decorativos comunes que la bibliografía ha marcado como exponentes característicos de la platería angelopolitana…
Christina Clarke As a gold- and silversmith, the material knowledge I’ve gained through practice makes metal artifacts as legible as documents: the technical processes used to fabricate them can be read in their forms and textures and the marks over their surfaces. Examining the fabrication of decorative arts gives us…