Webberley Antiques

Description

Exceptional rarity - A 17thCentury Spanish Colonial Tooled Leather and Wood Chest commemorating The Black Ship c. 1610.

Reputedly purchased from Michael Backman Ltd, the renowned London sellers of rare and fine antique colonial arts. With a crowned lion passant tooled beneath the lock plate.

This chest is in original condition with a wonderful colour and deep patination to the leather and retaining the original iron strap hinge (tip depleted) and decorated circular iron lock and clasp. Made in Peru in the 1600s, the beautifully tooled inscription in an early Iberian Romance script is believed to commermorate a significant event which took place on 30 November 1610 in the Sea of Gabo.

It may be related to ‘the Nossa Senhora da Graca Incident’ which occurred in 1610 in Japanese waters. A Portuguese ship known as the Black Ship was on route back to Lima, the trade centre of Peru, laden with goods and silver from the Asias. The ship was followed by Japanese samuri for four days and found itself at imminent risk of capture. The captain, Andre Pessoa, set fire to the gun powder and sank the ship, himself and the cargo to avoid capture. The event was remembered thoughout the 17th century and Pessoa was a hero as famous as Nelson in his day.

Correct and contemporaneous with this early 17th Century date, the chest may have contained a surviving artefact or perhaps was used for transporting trade goods along the same route and the inscription served as a reminder of pirates on those seas.
I am sure it can be fully translated by someone more knowledgeable than I.
The beautifully thick and supple leather worked around a solid wood cedar wood carcase. The original hand made iron rivets and nails still in place with bent over tips showing inside the case. Very robust and not delicate as you may expect, a function chest with the hinges still working smoothly and perfectly as they were made.

An early leather chest in such superb original order is an extremely rare survivor and I have never seen another this good. The leather to the domed top, side panels and around the inscription all finely tooled with scrolling foliage and punch work decoration, beneath the lock plate a small crowned lion passant and the back and base also covered with original unworked leather.

The original purchase price apparently exceeded £3,700 and we are offering the chest at a fraction of this value so that it can be re-homed soon. It is a very functional and useful chest but its great age and condition make it so rare that we hope it will appeal to a genuine collector or scholar who will love and continue to care for it.
Dimensions are

Height 15"
Width 41"
Depth 19"
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