Splendid Spanish Colonial Silver & Nut Yerba Mate Cup

This elegant cup was for drinking yerba mate, a caffeinated herbal tea, commonly drunk in South America. Made from an elongated nut or gourd that has been extensively engraved and then set in elaborate silver mounts, such a refined receptacle would have been used by only a particularly well-to-do woman in Peru of Spanish descent.

Indeed, this is one of the finest examples we have seen; few similar examples have been published.

The form is rare too – most yerba mate cups are later, of different and less refined form, and intended for men.

The silverwork has much in common with that of other parts of the Spanish Colonial world, such as the Philippines.

The vessel sits on a wide foot with a scalloped edge and ribbing in high relief.

The silverwork over the body is chased in high relief with flowers, baroque shells, scrolling tendrils and two taruca deer, indigenous to Peru.

A lid is attached to the body by means of a thick woven silver wire chain. The domed lid is beautifully decorated with a scalloped edge and masses of petals. It rises to an opening through which a silver straw would have been inserted through which the user would sip the yerba mate.

An example of similar form and with similarly refined silverwork but missing the lid and chain is illustrated in Luis Ribera & Schenone (1981, p. 271).

The nut in this example has been extensively engraved much of which is not evident unless the cup is dismantled to reveal the entirety of the nut.

Yerba mate is made by steeping dried leaves from the yerba mate plant in hot water. 

This is the finest example of an aristocrat’s yerba mate cup that we have seen. The condition is excellent; it is a museum-worthy piece.