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Description: |
The Nuestra Señora de Atocha shipwreck in 1622 has been a
fascination of mine for quite some time. So much so, that
the Atocha's story and the treasure that was recovered has
been the focus of my newest body of work for well over a
year. The shipwreck was found 350 years after she sank in a
hurricane off the coast of the Florida Keys and is a time
capsule of life as it was in the early 1600's. The find gave
all of us in the 21st century a window into the past.
The Atocha was a Spanish galleon that was heavily laden with
gold and silver coins and ingots, religious gold jewelry,
Peruvian emeralds, tobacco, indigo, silver plate as well as
intriguing personal items. One item that really caught my
eye was a series of gold links that looked like parts of a
14th to 16th century girdle (a long gold necklace of sorts
that was worn around the waist or the shoulders). Girdles
were status symbols of power and wealth and position.
Usually made of gold, they were incrusted with gemstones and
pearls. The regalia of Queens!
The pieces found at the Atocha wreck site seemed so familiar
to me. These were not new; this was an antique even for
1622! So, my research began to find more documentation about
girdles and more importantly who was painted wearing them,
especially of Spanish descent.
Two paintings came to mind. The first is of the Spanish
Queen consort; Isabel de Valois (1545-1568) by Juan Pantoja
de la Cruz (c. 1565) and the second was of her youngest
daughter, Infanta Catalina Michaila de Austria (1567-1597)
by Alonzo Sánchez Coello (c. 1585). Isabel was Queen consort
to Phillip II of Spain and his third wife. Mother and
daughter were both painted wearing dark gowns with light
colored embroidered sleeves. Both were painting wearing
pairs of aiglets (decorative ends to cording), similar
hairstyles, great hair decorations, and more importantly,
girdles that look almost exactly like the one found at the
Atocha wreck site. What is unique and interesting is that
different artists painted these paintings and they were 20
years apart.
Regalia de las Reinas de España was inspired by a
combination of the two paintings of Isabel and Catalina and
of the artifacts found on the Atocha. This design utilizes a
unique peyote stitch way of bezeling CZ's to form square
bezels, even though the CZ's are not square. Pearl
embellishments, and tiny herringbone shapes cupping around
single cups of cup-chain, add intriguing elements. Three
different components come together to reflect a
"girdle-like" look but in a delicate way. The components
terminate into tubular peyote stitch tubes with little bead
caps, ending with two beautiful buttons and a connector.
Beautiful, elegant and fit for a Queen! |
