Spanish Colonial Chased Silver Stirrup

This finely decorated stirrup in high-grade silver is from 18th century Spanish colonial South America, most likely Alto Peru, which is the early Spanish colonial name given to what is upper Peru and Bolivia today.

It is in the form of a silver slipper in which the foot could slide. The upper component is chased or repoussed in relief with rococo scrolled leaf motifs. The visible part of the heel component of the soul is engraved with more rococo leafy motifs, and the silver frame over the upper which allows suspension is pierced and similarly decorated with leaf and flower motifs.

There is only one stirrup – invariably when such highly decorated silver stirrups appear on the market, they appear as single items, never as pairs. It seems that they were only ever made as single items.

A possibility is that they were made for use by ladies who rode side-saddle on account of their long dresses, and so only one stirrup was needed. Another possibility is that such highly decorative stirrups were used in local churches to decorate model horses on which effigies of saints were mounted and because typically only one side of the horse was on public display, only one such stirrup was needed.

See similar examples in de Lavalle & Lang (1974, p. 189) and Luis Ribera & Schenone (1981, p. 345-9). All the published examples are shown as single stirrups; never in pairs.

The stirrup is in splendid condition. It is a sculptural work of art in its own right, and an excellent example of Spanish colonial silver.