SPANISÿH GALLEONS AND SHIPBOARD LIFE
'Don Alvaro de Bazar, Spain's most famous naval commander during the 16th Century, is credited with designing the ship that was used in transporting cargo for over 250 years. Bazar designed a large vessel of several hundred tons built on long straight lines. The galleons were a special type of warship, up to one hundred feet long and rigged with square sails. The sterncastle soared up to 40 feet above the ship's waterline and was capped with the classic poop deck. The decks were traditional features of European fighting vessels of the period serving as stations from which weapons were fired. The galleons were slower than the fast brigantines and sloops liked by the pirates, however they had immense firepower. The unusually high poop deck and forecastle not only hindered speed and manoeuvrability, but when fully loaded added to the overall unseaworthiness of the ship ... Life aboard a galleon during the long journey to and from the New World varied from passenger to passenger, depending upon status and wealth. Royal officials and officers had to furnish their own foodstuffs. The list of their personal victuals included every known species of live domestic beast or fowl, smoked hams, bacon, sausages, salted cows' tongues, various pickles and dried fish, olives, olive oil, biscuits, bread, chocolates, rice, beans and many varieties of wines and stronger liquours. A common sailor or soldier would be entitled each day to a quart of wine, two pounds of biscuits, an ounce and a half of olive oil, half a quart of vinegar and a small piece of cheese. He was able to eat two ounces of peas or beans four days each week. This diet sounds healthy enough. The trouble was that each voyage lasted too long - weeks before the New World was sighted the drinking water turned green, the wine became vinegar, the oil and cheese turned rancid and the biscuits, salted meat and dried vegetables crawled with maggots. All cooking was done on the main deck over a large metal box burning wood or charcoal. For safety reasons the fire was set in sand and only lit during daylight hours. A page prepared the principal meals for officers and passengers at midday. Meals for the crew were an entirely different affair. No cooks were carried aboard the galleons and the men had to prepare their own food. There were no toilets on the ships. Seamen and many of the male passengers climbed out on seats hung over the side of the ship - women and fastidious males used 'honey buckets' in their cabins. The officers and wealthy passengers were quartered in the aft of the galleons under the poop deck, quarter deck or half deck. The gun room with the gunners mates were usually under their cabins. Most of the treasure was located in the stern of the galleon. Gold and jewels generally were placed in the captain's cabin. Larger amounts of coin and bullion were packed in the lower hold aft. Sometimes bullion, because of its weight, was thrown on top of the ballast. Unregistered (contraband) treasure might be hidden in crates, casks or packages which contained other products as well. Crew members slept in hammocks on the covered decks between the guns. Drinking water was loaded in casks which had been singed inside as a means of sterilisation. Especially in tropic zones the water barrels quickly became foul and swarmed with insects. Poor feeding lead to one epidemic after another.'
J. Lee Tippin and Herbert Humphreys Jr., In Search of the Golden Madonna,1989, pp. 74-77
THE WRECKING OF THE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LAS MARAVILLAS
From the moment that Columbus completed his epic voyage of discovery in 1492 the riches of the New World lured the intrepid traveller. During the succeeding centuries, Spanish fleets braved the hazardous seas in their quest for treasure. These early trips were rewarded by the spoils they seized from the Indian tribes, then the secrets of the fabled emerald mines of Muzo and Chivor in Colombia were revealed to the conquistadors, along with pearls from the shores of Venezuela, vast deposits of silver from the Potosi mine in Bolivia and gold mined in Colombia and the surrounding regions. These riches were supplemented by the luxury goods from the Far East unloaded at Acapulco by the Manila galleons, cargoes which included jewels and gems, silks, spices and porcelain. In return Spain's distant colonies received the commodities they lacked including supplies of mercury badly needed for refining silver. By the 17th Century, weakened by war in Europe, Spain came to rely more and more on her colonial spoils. The cargoes increased as the need intensified and late departures due to overloading meant that return journeys were embarked upon in dangerous conditions. Such was the fate of the Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas which had set out from Spain in 1654 in a flotilla comprising eight galleons, four merchant ships and two small vessels. The largest of the two galleons were chosen as flagships - the Nuestra Señora de la Limpia Concepçion commanded by the Marquess de Montealegre acting as Capitana or leader of the fleet, while the Maravillas commanded by Admiral Matias de Orellana served as Almiranta bringing up the rear. The Maravillas carried the following passengers: 153 soldiers, 14 officials, 27 sailors, 17 gunners, 13 ship's boys, Lucas Quesada (master of rations), Juan Rodriguez (quartermaster), Miguel Alonso (storemaster), Lodo Luis Sierra (chaplain), Bartolome del Castillo (carpenter), Mateo de Herrera (carpenter), Juan de Esculla (caulker), Pedro de Ayllon (caulker), Joseph Conde (surgeon) and Ambrioso Altamirano (watchman). Each ship carried fifty-eight bronze cannon of various sizes. The Capitana carried the Captain General who was responsible for navigation, provisions and the general welfare of the fleet. The Almiranta carried the Admiral who was second in command but usually took charge during battle and was responsible for repelling attackers from the rear, while the third in command, the Gobernador, sailed in the Gobierno and was in charge of the soldiers, being the highest ranking military man in the cortege. The Maravillas with her accompanying vessels sailed from Spain via the Canaries, where a three-day stop was made to replenish supplies and pick up more passengers. The fleet then headed south by southwest and arrived in the Province of New Granada (present day Colombia, Venezuela and part of the isthmus) on 22 August, 1654 after a journey taking 95 days. According to the records, the Maravillas loaded up with silver, gold and emeralds before arriving at Porto Bello, Panama on 25 March, 1655 where she reputedly took on board a five foot high solid gold Madonna and a 400 pound table encrusted with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, before joining the other ships and sailing for Havana on 3 July, 1655. However, a couple of weeks later they spotted some distant ships and fearing an attack from the British, they headed back for Mexico landing at the port of San Juan de Ulna on 2 August, 1655. By 7 September they had again set sail for Havana where they anchored offshore on 10 October and repairs included a new rudder and deck knee supports for the Maravillas. The wrecking of the Maravillas is described by a Catholic priest (Don Diego Portichuelo de Rivadeneyra) keeper of the metropolitan church in Lima, who joined the ship in Porto Bello, Panama. He subsequently records how he left with the fleet from Havana on 1 January, 1656 in favourable weather with expectations of a happy voyage, but four nights later he was awakened by the boatswain's shouts and hurrying on deck he discovered they were in 13 fathoms of water in the Bahamas Channel (near the treacherous Bahama Banks) ... 'I found some alarmed, others confused and everyone giving opinions about what should be done'. Accompanied by the Capitana, the Maravillas had been somewhat ahead of the rest of the fleet, so she fired a cannon shot to warn of the impending danger enabling the other pilots to change course for Florida and an easier passage. In the darkness these two ships attempted to turn, but the larger Almiranta was less easy to manoeuvre than her companion, and the retreating Capitana smashed into the side of the larger ship and the bow ... 'broke through our planks from the top of the waterline to the holds, making splinters out of all of them'. Of the 650 passengers only 45 were rescued the next afternoon by a small boat from another of the galleons. Shortly after the disaster, the governor of Cartagena sent 6 frigates to salvage the contents and divers from the Venezuelan pearl fisheries were able to salvage 480,000 pesos of treasure, together with 12 of the smaller bronze cannons, before a hurricane struck on 19 June and they were forced to give up. Four of the six frigates were sunk in this early salvage operation, although about half their haul was recovered, and a further search of the Maravillas in August of the same year was particularly successful. Despite four subsequent attempts at recovery the Maravillas lay unheeded until 1677-78 when further rescue attempts met with limited success. The wreck then lay untouched for over 300 years until it was rediscovered by Robert Marx in 1972. Marx had researched and hunted for treasure all over the world, both onshore and off, before coming across nautical charts in the archives in Seville which gave the location of the Maravillas and included a cargo manifest. Those records eventually led to his discovery of the bow section of the Maravillas in May, 1972, but disputes arose with the Bahamian government and the salvage attempt was abandoned. Fourteen years later a new contract was negotiated by Captain Herbert Humphreys Jr. which promised a quarter share of everything salvaged to the Bahamian government in return for their protection of his research vessel.
THE JEWELLERY FROM THE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LAS MARAVILLAS
In 1986 Captain Herbert Humphreys Jr. started preparations to relocate the wreck of the Maravillas, reviving efforts made some years earlier by Robert Marx. Surrounding himself with a team of divers and specialists, he fitted out an erstwhile cable-laying vessel 'The Beacon' with modern navigational and search equipment and invited the Prime Minister, Sir Lynden Pindling, to a dinner aboard in celebration of the renewed search. Diving for treasure is not as appealing as it sounds, Captain Humphreys has described it as 'two per cent glamour and excitement and ninety-eight per cent sweat' and their efforts were often frustrated by the weather or threatened by sharks or human marauders. The investment of time, money and a good deal of hard work has resulted in finds of immense interest to those back on dry land. As the recovered artefacts have been conserved, sketched and catalogued new areas of knowledge are opened up and attributions will have to be reconsidered. This is certainly true in respect of the jewellery where there is a blending of the Orient and Spain with some thought-provoking results. With the lack of published information on jewellery from the New World and still far too little known about the Spanish Colonial provenances of many votive pieces, much still needs to be understood and the material recovered from Spanish shipwrecks provides many clues. There needs to be an unravelling of the influences brought to bear on these jewels bearing in mind the cultural crossroads that existed in this part of the world during Spain's hegemony. The cargo of gold treasure recently raised from the Nuestra Señora de la Concepçion sank 1638) gives some idea of the extent of the export trade in gold and precious stones from The Philippines during the 17th Century. Chinese goldsmiths working in Manila as well as Mexico City at this date were almost certainly responsible for the sophisticated gold filigree work aboard the vessel, while some of the ring forms in the cargo relate to Javanese prototypes. (For further Indonesian influence see the chandelier-type earring, lot 7 in the present treasure). This interplay of ideas was greatly expanded by lucrative trading activities ostensibly carried out on behalf of Spain but subject to abuse. The precious contents of the Manila galleons were destined for Europe, but often part of their cargo such as silks from China would find their way from Acapulco down to Peru, and envious nations like the Dutch, Portuguese and British either traded in competition with the Spanish or plundered their laden vessels. Despite these setbacks a massive amount of jewellery made under Oriental influence reached Europe by way of the trade routes from Manila, joining the untold quantities of jewellery, loose gems, coins and gold bullion that were loaded annually onto the treasure fleets in Panama and Mexico. Before Spanish exploitation diminished the supply, these early shipments contained skilled work from the native goldsmiths whose lifelike renderings of birds and reptiles so captivated Renaissance connoisseurs. At an early date their dexterity was also appreciated by Cortez who is known to have given Montezuma, Emperor of Mexico, religious jewels and objects for them to copy, thus introducing unfamiliar Christian forms into their repetoires. Contemporary accounts are unstinting in their praise for these indigenous goldworkers but the problems of attribution are perplexing. The presence of a Spanish jeweller working in Hispaniola as early as 1512 presents yet another source of supply for these jewels from the New World, and much work still needs to be done into their possible origins as the seabed slowly relinquishes its booty
A MAGNIFICENT SPANISH COLONIAL EMERALD AND GOLD PECTORAL CROSS of lobed outline, the front set with sixty-six well matched rectangular and lozenge-cut Colombian emeralds, the reverse profusely engraved with scrolls, quatrefoils and crosses and showing traces of the original black enamel or niello decoration, circa 1650
Details
A MAGNIFICENT SPANISH COLONIAL EMERALD AND GOLD PECTORAL CROSS of lobed outline, the front set with sixty-six well matched rectangular and lozenge-cut Colombian emeralds, the reverse profusely engraved with scrolls, quatrefoils and crosses and showing traces of the original black enamel or niello decoration, circa 1650
4in. (10.0cm.) high
The cross is one of the most important pieces of jewellery of its type to have been recovered from the seabed and has survived in near perfect condition despite a sojourn of over three hundred years in saltwater. Its unusual combination of decorative features such as the lobed outline and distinctively patterned reverse are uncharacteristic of mid-17th Century mainland Spanish work and point to a Spanish Colonial origin. The cross in lobed surround relates to Spanish coinage where it is found during the reign of Philip III (1598-1621) decorating coins from mints such as Seville and re-appears again during the reign of Philip V (1780-24) on coins from mints in the New World. The same lobed surround is also present in Spanish 17th Century religious pendants where the centre can be either figurative or set with gems. The reverse of the present cross presents a puzzle and is reminiscent of the etched decoration found on German Renaissance armour and metalwork with its complex medley of foliage, arabesques, circles and quatrefoils incorporating, in this instance, a fleur-de-lys cross inspired by one of the Spanish military orders. This fusion of decoration with its emphasis on scrollwork more typical of late 16th and early 17th Century Europe gives the cross a different character. It has a richness of materials and a boldness of form which sets it apart from the more fastidious designs favoured by goldsmiths in Barcelona and Seville, and is an important example of the sumptuous jewels from the New World so admired at the courts of Europe. Although there are a number of extant emerald crosses of Spanish and Spanish Colonial origin including important examples from treasure ships such as the Nuestra Señora de Atocha (sank 1622) and the San Pedro (sank 1595), there is no close comparison to the present example. Looking at the detail of its design, similarities in the setting of the emeralds can be found in an aigrette-shaped jewel sold at Christie's, London on 3 October 1990, lot 373, which utilized the same pointed gold settings of jagged outline for its lozenge-shaped stones. Of unknown provenance, the jewel was almost certainly of Spanish Colonial manufacture. The same rather spiky goldwork is also found on an impressive emerald and gold 'rostrillo'* with matching set of nineteen dress ornaments donated to the Treasury of the Virgen de Gracia de Carmona in 1680 by Francisco de Rivera y Aral and described as being of undoubted Spanish American origin (M.J.Sanz Serrano, La Virgen de Gracia de Carmona, 1990, no.16). The richness of the jewels in this Treasury as well as the many others to be found in Spain may give a clue as to the intended destiny of the Maravillas cross. Although it may have belonged to one of the Spanish grandees aboard the laden vessel or been intended as a noble or even royal gift on its return to Spain, a possible explanation may be that it was commissioned in the New World by a member of one of the Spanish orders of knighthood as a gift of thanks to an image of the Virgin, in much the same way as a gold filigree chain was donated in 1659 to the Carmona Treasury by Captain Gregoria Morera (op.cit., no.42) who fortuitously survived the perils of his voyage undertaken only three years after the fateful journey of the Maravillas.
* 'rostrillo' - the decorative border immediately surrounding the face on images of the Virgin.
We are grateful to Dr Priscilla E. Muller and Dr Anna Beatriz Chadour for their help in compiling this entry
4in. (10.0cm.) high
The cross is one of the most important pieces of jewellery of its type to have been recovered from the seabed and has survived in near perfect condition despite a sojourn of over three hundred years in saltwater. Its unusual combination of decorative features such as the lobed outline and distinctively patterned reverse are uncharacteristic of mid-17th Century mainland Spanish work and point to a Spanish Colonial origin. The cross in lobed surround relates to Spanish coinage where it is found during the reign of Philip III (1598-1621) decorating coins from mints such as Seville and re-appears again during the reign of Philip V (1780-24) on coins from mints in the New World. The same lobed surround is also present in Spanish 17th Century religious pendants where the centre can be either figurative or set with gems. The reverse of the present cross presents a puzzle and is reminiscent of the etched decoration found on German Renaissance armour and metalwork with its complex medley of foliage, arabesques, circles and quatrefoils incorporating, in this instance, a fleur-de-lys cross inspired by one of the Spanish military orders. This fusion of decoration with its emphasis on scrollwork more typical of late 16th and early 17th Century Europe gives the cross a different character. It has a richness of materials and a boldness of form which sets it apart from the more fastidious designs favoured by goldsmiths in Barcelona and Seville, and is an important example of the sumptuous jewels from the New World so admired at the courts of Europe. Although there are a number of extant emerald crosses of Spanish and Spanish Colonial origin including important examples from treasure ships such as the Nuestra Señora de Atocha (sank 1622) and the San Pedro (sank 1595), there is no close comparison to the present example. Looking at the detail of its design, similarities in the setting of the emeralds can be found in an aigrette-shaped jewel sold at Christie's, London on 3 October 1990, lot 373, which utilized the same pointed gold settings of jagged outline for its lozenge-shaped stones. Of unknown provenance, the jewel was almost certainly of Spanish Colonial manufacture. The same rather spiky goldwork is also found on an impressive emerald and gold 'rostrillo'* with matching set of nineteen dress ornaments donated to the Treasury of the Virgen de Gracia de Carmona in 1680 by Francisco de Rivera y Aral and described as being of undoubted Spanish American origin (M.J.Sanz Serrano, La Virgen de Gracia de Carmona, 1990, no.16). The richness of the jewels in this Treasury as well as the many others to be found in Spain may give a clue as to the intended destiny of the Maravillas cross. Although it may have belonged to one of the Spanish grandees aboard the laden vessel or been intended as a noble or even royal gift on its return to Spain, a possible explanation may be that it was commissioned in the New World by a member of one of the Spanish orders of knighthood as a gift of thanks to an image of the Virgin, in much the same way as a gold filigree chain was donated in 1659 to the Carmona Treasury by Captain Gregoria Morera (op.cit., no.42) who fortuitously survived the perils of his voyage undertaken only three years after the fateful journey of the Maravillas.
* 'rostrillo' - the decorative border immediately surrounding the face on images of the Virgin.
We are grateful to Dr Priscilla E. Muller and Dr Anna Beatriz Chadour for their help in compiling this entry