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16 pages, 6645 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Beyond Barniz de Pasto Mopa-Mopa Objects: Artisans and Harvesters in the 21st Century

by Giovany Paolo Arteaga Montes and María Mercedes Figueroa Fernández

Heritage 2024, 7(9), 5032-5047; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7090238 - 12 Sep 2024

Viewed by 500

Abstract

This article intends to highlight and reconstruct the relationships between humans (harvesters, woodworkers and master artisans) and non-humans (raw materials, tools, places, products, etc.) in the Barniz de Pasto mopa-mopa tradition. These relationships were lost when the focus came to be primarily on [...] Read more.

This article intends to highlight and reconstruct the relationships between humans (harvesters, woodworkers and master artisans) and non-humans (raw materials, tools, places, products, etc.) in the Barniz de Pasto mopa-mopa tradition. These relationships were lost when the focus came to be primarily on the objects, as happens in most popular art forms worldwide. This text is organised in ethnographic overviews: the home workshops of masters of Barniz de Pasto; woodworker workshops; montañas-selvas (Andean rainforest highlands) and mopa-mopa harvesters; until we reach the objects. Unlike a conventional article, it does not end with firm and immutable conclusions. Our reflections from our eleven years (2013–2024) of accompanying men and women artisans and collectors, during the process of including the traditional knowledge and techniques associated with Barniz de Pasto mopa-mopa as Intangible Cultural Heritage (patrimonialización) and its safeguarding, are always open for discussion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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26 pages, 8200 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Lacquers of the Amazon: Cuias, Cumatê and Colours by Indigenous Women in Grão-Pará in the 18th Century

by Renata Maria de Almeida Martins

Heritage 2024, 7(9), 4855-4880; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7090230 - 6 Sep 2024

Viewed by 821

Abstract

The starting point of this proposal is a collection of decorated cuias, preserved in Portugal and produced by Indigenous women in Grão-Pará in the 18th century. The objects in question are an exemplary case of the global art history of the Amazonian [...] Read more.

The starting point of this proposal is a collection of decorated cuias, preserved in Portugal and produced by Indigenous women in Grão-Pará in the 18th century. The objects in question are an exemplary case of the global art history of the Amazonian communities. In order to investigate them, it is necessary to consider the procurement and ritual use of cuias (fruits of the cuieira tree-Crescentia cuyete), the sophisticated techniques used to produce a durable, glossy, black varnish from cumatê (or cumaté, cumati), a natural dark red pigment extracted from the skins of the cumatezeiro or axuazeiro tree (Myrcia atramentifera), as well as the incorporation of fauna and flora motifs from Asian or Asian-inspired textiles and embroidery, which circulated worldwide. Their history brings together the nature of the forest, the myths of creation, and the knowledge and practices of Indigenous and riverine women, mainly from the lower Amazon. Studying these objects produced by Indigenous female painters in a colonial context of appropriation, in addition to contributing to their knowledge, can stimulate dialogues on the knowledge of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest with other locations in America, sharing their ancestry and resistance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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19 pages, 27252 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mexican Lacquer at the Victoria and Albert Museum: Analysis of Three Bateas

by Valentina Risdonne, Ludovico Geminiani, Nick Humphrey, Dana Melchar and Lucia Burgio

Heritage 2024, 7(9), 4647-4665; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7090219 - 28 Aug 2024

Viewed by 546

Abstract

This study investigates the materials and techniques used in three Mexican platters, or bateas, from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection. Our analytical approach included the use of non-invasive techniques, such as infrared reflectography, scanning X-ray fluorescence, and digital microscopy, which informed [...] Read more.

This study investigates the materials and techniques used in three Mexican platters, or bateas, from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection. Our analytical approach included the use of non-invasive techniques, such as infrared reflectography, scanning X-ray fluorescence, and digital microscopy, which informed limited but targeted sampling. Traditional pigments were identified, including indigo, carbon black, red lead, lead white, and orpiment, and materials such as dolomite, gypsum, ochres, and clay were also found. A red organic dye was seen but could not be identified. The stratigraphy of the objects was also investigated. The condition of the objects was also evaluated, and the results will be used to inform future conservation decisions. The findings add to the published knowledge of the materials and techniques of early colonial Mexican objects and can be of use in future investigations, facilitating exchanges and collaborations focused on this type of objects, which are rare in UK collections. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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25 pages, 24139 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mopa Mopa and Barniz de Pasto at the Victoria and Albert Museum: Recent Developments

by Lucia Burgio, Nick Humphrey, Dana Melchar, Lucia Noor Melita and Valentina Risdonne

Heritage 2024, 7(9), 4592-4616; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7090216 - 23 Aug 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 548

Abstract

This paper summarises the research carried out so far on barniz de Pasto objects from the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and outlines future areas of development for our collection of Indigenous lacquer from Latin America. The V&A was the first UK public [...] Read more.

This paper summarises the research carried out so far on barniz de Pasto objects from the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and outlines future areas of development for our collection of Indigenous lacquer from Latin America. The V&A was the first UK public institution to identify objects decorated with barniz de Pasto within its collection. Two of these were acquired in 2015 and 2018; others had entered the collection between 1855 and 1902 but were recognised as barniz de Pasto only after 2018. The acquisition in 2015 of a cabinet marked the start of a research campaign to understand the materiality and context of all the museum’s barniz de Pasto objects. The analytical techniques used included X-radiography, polarised light microscopy and digital microscopy, Raman microscopy, X-ray fluorescence (point and scanning), chromatography (py-GC–MS and LC–DAD–MS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray micro-computed tomography. Unexpected discoveries were made along the way, including the characterisation and documentation of mercury white (mercury(I) chloride, or calomel) used as a white pigment, a world first. Gel-based cleaning methods were used to remove a non-original, discoloured, natural varnish covering nearly the entire surface of one of the objects, and the recent overpaint on its lid, revealing original surfaces which had been repaired and drastically repainted in the second half of the twentieth century. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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31 pages, 43767 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Methods for Dating the First Spanish American Lacquerwares: Seventeenth-Century Barniz de Pasto and Peribán Lacquer

by Mitchell Codding

Heritage 2024, 7(8), 4323-4353; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7080204 - 13 Aug 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 553

Abstract

This article examines the first Spanish American lacquerwares produced by Indigenous artisans in the seventeenth century, barniz de Pasto in Colombia and Peribán lacquer in Mexico, and discusses how the evolution of the decorative motifs, techniques, and forms of these lacquerwares can establish [...] Read more.

This article examines the first Spanish American lacquerwares produced by Indigenous artisans in the seventeenth century, barniz de Pasto in Colombia and Peribán lacquer in Mexico, and discusses how the evolution of the decorative motifs, techniques, and forms of these lacquerwares can establish an initial dating chronology. Over the last thirty years, a sufficient number of examples of seventeenth-century Spanish American lacquerware have come to light that are datable, whether through provenance, historical references, or radiocarbon dating, and that make possible tentative chronologies for their production. The Hispanic Society of America in New York City holds at present the most significant collection of datable pieces of barniz de Pasto and Peribán lacquerware that now provide the key dates that can serve as the basis for establishing dating chronologies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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31 pages, 18272 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Seventeenth-Century Barniz de Pasto Objects from the Collection of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library: Materiality and Technology

by Elena Basso, Alicia McGeachy, Maria Goretti Mieites Alonso, Federica Pozzi, Roxanne Radpour and Monica Katz

Heritage 2024, 7(5), 2620-2650; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7050125 - 18 May 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 993

Abstract

The Hispanic Society Museum & Library (HSML) holds a collection of nine viceregal barniz de Pasto objects, made by Indigenous artisans in the 17th and 18th centuries. Designed to imitate Asian lacquers and intended for European aesthetic tastes, barniz de Pasto is an [...] Read more.

The Hispanic Society Museum & Library (HSML) holds a collection of nine viceregal barniz de Pasto objects, made by Indigenous artisans in the 17th and 18th centuries. Designed to imitate Asian lacquers and intended for European aesthetic tastes, barniz de Pasto is an example of Indigenous technique and knowledge that has survived to the present day. An in-depth analysis of five of these barniz de Pasto objects, dated to the first half and last quarter of the 17th century based on their iconography, was carried out through a combination of non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques, including portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectroscopy to investigate the possible presence of inorganic pigments, and fiber-optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) and reflectance imaging spectroscopy (RIS) to provide molecular information on colorants and their distributions across the objects. Dyes and pigments were also identified using Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). The nature of the resin was determined by FTIR and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), while the decoration stratigraphy and composition were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). This paper confirms the use of mopa mopa, the resin used in the barniz de Pasto technique, in two objects not previously analyzed, and identifies indigo, insect-based red, calomel, lead white, and an unknown flavonol-based yellow dye, and challenges the use of calomel as a temporal marker for these works. Taken together, these results expand our understanding of the material use and explorations undertaken by artists during this time period to create such elaborate and enduring objects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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20 pages, 87222 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Recently Identified Barniz Brillante Casket at Bateman’s, the Home of Rudyard Kipling

by Ludovico Geminiani, Maria Sanchez Carvajal, Emma Schmuecker, Megan Wheeler, Lucia Burgio, Dana Melchar and Valentina Risdonne

Heritage 2024, 7(3), 1569-1588; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7030075 - 13 Mar 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1715

Abstract

A casket held at Bateman’s, Rudyard and Caroline Kipling’s home in Sussex—now a National Trust property—was recently recognised as a barniz brillante work. Objects made of barniz brillante, a technique featuring the Indigenous American material called mopa mopa, are relatively rare [...] Read more.

A casket held at Bateman’s, Rudyard and Caroline Kipling’s home in Sussex—now a National Trust property—was recently recognised as a barniz brillante work. Objects made of barniz brillante, a technique featuring the Indigenous American material called mopa mopa, are relatively rare and have only sparingly been studied using scientific analysis techniques. A collaboration between the National Trust and the Victoria and Albert Museum has produced scientific evidence which will be invaluable in the study and the understanding of this type of object. The scientific analysis of the casket was conducted exclusively in a non-destructive and non-invasive manner, to preserve the integrity of the object which is in very good condition. The Bateman’s casket is characterised by a dark underdrawing, made with a material which is transparent in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Most of the areas decorated with silver leaf have tarnished due to the formation of what is likely to be silver chloride. This study represents a significant step towards the comparative scientific study of barniz brillante objects in other collections, which in turn will make it possible to suggest a timeline for their manufacture, and even identify workshops. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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24 pages, 36185 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Japanese Namban Lacquer in New Spain, Focusing on Enconchado Furniture

by Yayoi Kawamura and Ana García Barrios

Heritage 2024, 7(3), 1472-1495; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7030071 - 11 Mar 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1778

Abstract

This work studies one type of artistic production from the Viceroyalty of New Spain during the second half of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the following century. Furniture decorated with the technique of enconchado is studied to point out the influence [...] Read more.

This work studies one type of artistic production from the Viceroyalty of New Spain during the second half of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the following century. Furniture decorated with the technique of enconchado is studied to point out the influence of Namban lacquer as well as the relationship with enconchado painting, a better known and studied corpus than furniture, and also its link to Mexican lacquer, maque. The identification and study of three pieces of furniture that feature the enconchado technique, and a cross, probably decorated with maque, offer a complementary vision of the art of enconchado and allow us to consider enconchado furniture an independent artistic genre. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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16 pages, 5746 KiB

Open AccessArticle

New Contributions Regarding the Barniz de Pasto Collection at the Museo de América, Madrid

by Ana Zabía de la Mata

Heritage 2024, 7(2), 667-682; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7020033 - 2 Feb 2024

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1571

Abstract

This article describes the objects in the barniz de Pasto collection at the Museo de América, Madrid. The barniz de Pasto technique will be described, as well as the historical documentary sources that have previously discussed this varnish. The article will also mention [...] Read more.

This article describes the objects in the barniz de Pasto collection at the Museo de América, Madrid. The barniz de Pasto technique will be described, as well as the historical documentary sources that have previously discussed this varnish. The article will also mention the historical reasons why Spain is the European country in which the greatest number of objects decorated with varnish have been found, in both religious and private collections. The main body of the article discusses all the barniz de Pasto objects held in the Museum collection, focuses on the history of their arrival at the Museum, and investigates their possible origin, with the help of ample photographs. The final section examines the Museum’s three most recent acquisitions, completed in the second half of 2022, in detail. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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15 pages, 8730 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Splendour of Glitter: Silver Leaf in barniz de Pasto Objects

by María Cecilia Álvarez-White, David Cohen and Mario Omar Fernández

Heritage 2023, 6(10), 6581-6595; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6100344 - 27 Sep 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1432

Abstract

This paper presents current findings about the historical use of silver and metallic elements as part of the decorative technique from Colombia known as barniz de Pasto. The results are part of broader ongoing research. The aim is to interpret and assess [...] Read more.

This paper presents current findings about the historical use of silver and metallic elements as part of the decorative technique from Colombia known as barniz de Pasto. The results are part of broader ongoing research. The aim is to interpret and assess the introduction of metal as a significant component in the consolidation of the technique. Our research uses well-established imaging techniques (visible light macrophotography; infrared and ultraviolet photography), cross-sections, and elemental mapping from SEM-EDS. The results are compared and interpreted within a holistic framework suggesting the introduction of silver as part of an innovation of the barniz de Pasto technique, either as whole silver leaf sandwiched between layers of mopa-mopa or as “venturine”, obtained by kneading, and therefore fragmenting, silver leaf within mopa-mopa layers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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18 pages, 6253 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reflections on the Forms and Arrangements of Surface Images in the Art of Barniz de Pasto, from the 16th to the 19th Century

by María del Pilar López Pérez

Heritage 2023, 6(7), 5424-5441; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6070286 - 17 Jul 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1171

Abstract

Flowers, branches, birds, animals, a diversity of geometric combinations and varied scenes create, with great care, an exquisite and delightfully ornamented world. Among symmetries, proportions, chromatic sense, and repeated figures, themes between the sacred and the profane are set and arranged in the [...] Read more.

Flowers, branches, birds, animals, a diversity of geometric combinations and varied scenes create, with great care, an exquisite and delightfully ornamented world. Among symmetries, proportions, chromatic sense, and repeated figures, themes between the sacred and the profane are set and arranged in the artistic surfaces of barniz de Pasto. My reflection is aimed at knowing in greater depth the marvelous creations that the barniz de Pasto painters elaborated in the cultural environment of San Juan de Pasto and San Francisco de Quito, by exploring that visual world, which is part of a group of objects made by overlapping layers of membrane to define figures with the presence of silver leaf, in which a significant relief is generally evident. Understanding how the figures were arranged on the surface of the objects, how they were organized, and what system of composition and other possible artistic resources to control the surfaces existed, leads me to consider that the craftsmen had a similar training to that given in the field of the Spanish painter in several of its modalities. Some of the most noted examples of this neogranadino art will be used as examples. I reflect on three examples from different periods and very different in their configuration: a casket, a cabinet, and a tray, all decorated with barniz de Pasto and with different compositional challenges for the artist. Rather than the physical–mechanical use of materials and supports, I focus on the syntax of the image and the techniques used in the organizational structure and its processes, finding that there were ways of organizing the elements in a specific space and that these came from professional practices associated mainly with painting. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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18 pages, 11550 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Lacquer and Imitation Lacquer Folding Screens in New Spain

by Sonia I. Ocaña-Ruiz

Heritage 2023, 6(5), 4282-4299; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6050226 - 11 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4792

Abstract

Folding screens were very popular in New Spain beginning in the late 16th century. From the second half of the 17th century on, many Chinese and some European lacquer folding screens circulated in New Spain, inspiring the development of Novohispanic lacquer, imitation lacquer, [...] Read more.

Folding screens were very popular in New Spain beginning in the late 16th century. From the second half of the 17th century on, many Chinese and some European lacquer folding screens circulated in New Spain, inspiring the development of Novohispanic lacquer, imitation lacquer, and Chinese-style folding screens. The decorative technique of these Novohispanic folding screens has not been studied, but evidence suggests that some of them were made with techniques that have pre-Columbian roots, others with European lacquer techniques, and others still with paint and varnish adapted to produce a shiny surface resembling that of Asian lacquer. Thus, 18th-century New Spain was the place where there was the widest variety of lacquer folding screens in the world. Hitherto this variety has remained unnoticed, but studying it is essential to understand to what extent the globalization of the taste for lacquer gave rise to innovative solutions in the Americas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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16 pages, 6621 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Three Studies of Luxury Mexican Lacquer Objects from the 16th to the 19th Centuries, Analysis of Materials and Pictorial Techniques

by Rafael Romero, Adelina Illán and Clara Bondía

Heritage 2023, 6(4), 3590-3605; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6040191 - 11 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1745

Abstract

This technical study of three Mexican lacquer objects, dating from the 16th, 18th and 19th centuries, analyses different lacquer manufacturing processes and their local characteristics through the centuries. The technical analysis of each object highlights their material and technological innovation. In addition, we [...] Read more.

This technical study of three Mexican lacquer objects, dating from the 16th, 18th and 19th centuries, analyses different lacquer manufacturing processes and their local characteristics through the centuries. The technical analysis of each object highlights their material and technological innovation. In addition, we describe individual stylistic characteristics of Mexican lacquer production centres, Peribán and Olinalá. Finally, we conclude with a few observations about the taste for Asian lacquer in the West, and how this impacted lacquer crafts around the world. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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15 pages, 5289 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Art of Barniz de Pasto and Its Appropriation of Other Cultures

by Yayoi Kawamura

Heritage 2023, 6(3), 3292-3306; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6030174 - 22 Mar 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2645

Abstract

This study analyzes the techniques and decorative motifs of several works made using barniz de Pasto, highlighting their characteristics in order to establish comparisons with artistic phenomena of Asia and Europe. A possible link can be observed between barniz de Pasto and [...] Read more.

This study analyzes the techniques and decorative motifs of several works made using barniz de Pasto, highlighting their characteristics in order to establish comparisons with artistic phenomena of Asia and Europe. A possible link can be observed between barniz de Pasto and the Namban and Pictorial style Japanese export lacquer works of the 17th and 18th centuries. A search for similarity is justified by the documentary and material evidence of Japanese works created in these styles being transported from Japan to the Viceroyalty of New Spain by Manila galleons via the trade route between Acapulco and Callao. Additionally, traces of the Spanish culture have been recognized in barniz de Pasto. For example, printed images that circulated in the Viceroyalty of Peru have been observed on a coffer. This appropriation, also observed in the mural painting of a Central Andean church, and the presence of the image of Amaru, a Quechua deity, on the same coffer, marks the Central Andes as one of the possible places where the practice of barniz de Pasto could have been established. All of this points to Central and South America’s great ability to appropriate foreign cultures and fuse them with their own during the viceregal period, as manifested in the art of barniz de Pasto. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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Review

Jump to: Research

25 pages, 9038 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Story of Elaeagia Resin (Mopa-Mopa), So Far

by Richard Newman, Emily Kaplan and Maria Cecilia Álvarez-White

Heritage 2023, 6(5), 4320-4344; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6050229 - 12 May 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3340

Abstract

The unusual resin from some species of Elaeagia, a genus now found in certain parts of Central America and South America, was probably first utilized by native peoples in Colombia more than a thousand years ago. It became a crucial part of often [...] Read more.

The unusual resin from some species of Elaeagia, a genus now found in certain parts of Central America and South America, was probably first utilized by native peoples in Colombia more than a thousand years ago. It became a crucial part of often elaborately decorated objects made in the southwestern city of Pasto in the colonial period, and it has continued to be used there up to the present, in which it is at the core of a local craft tradition. The resin was also utilized for about 300 years by the Inka, mainly to decorate qeros (ceremonial drinking cups). The resin is often referred to as mopa-mopa and, specifically in Colombia, as barniz de Pasto. The botany, chemistry, properties, and analysis of Elaeagia resin are reviewed, along with a brief survey of the history of its use. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lacquer in the Americas)

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