Spanish colonial silver platter

Reverse of the plate

Large Spanish Colonial Silver Platter

This beautiful, large silver platter is from eighteenth century Spanish colonial Central or South America. Made of hammered and chiselled high-grade silver this plate is heavy for its size and has a beautiful finish. It follows the classical Louis XVI style with its scalloped rim. It is relatively deep, and has a wonderful tactile quality. It has two well-cast handles on either side. The means by which the handles have been fabricated and attached demonstrates this item as a quality piece for an affluent colonial Spanish home. A platter of this size would have been used for carrying and serving a large quantity of roasted meat for important sumptuous feasts.

Spanish colonial silver generally tends to be heavy for its size. Typically it was made by hammering or raising a sheet of thick silver into the required form using a mallet and then planishing it with a small flat-faced tool to remove hammer indentations. This left surfaces smooth but with a surface shimmer so that most extant Spanish colonial silver is both pure and has a rich depth.

Overall, this is an excellent platter of high quality, excellent weight and an unusually large size. There are no repairs, dents or cracks.