posted 05-13-2006 07:35 PM            

On my last visit to Puerto Rico I had the opportunity to pay a visit to the Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín, a research and museum facility on the site of the country-retreat of the former governor. As we toured the house I noticed on a sideboard this spectacular silver teaset. After examining it I offered to post it here to solicit information for their files. I'll start with the set itself, and then give you what history I can at the end. I'm hoping someone will be able to identify it more precisely than I could.

I think it's pretty clear that it was not likely made in Puerto Rico. My guess was either Nepal or China, based on the design and workmanship, and I would say most likely dating to the late 19th- to mid-20th century.

Unfortunately I didn't have any lights with me so I had to shoot with the available light -- at least in PR there's usually plenty of that! But some of the photos of marks are not as clear as I'd like. As I think you'll be able to see, the marks are TIK 850. I could find no other marks.

Luis Muñoz Marín was the first Puerto Rican elected governor, in 1948, and was the architect of the "Free Associated State" or Commonwealth status that the island still has. He did not see this as an ideal status, but as something that pragmatically would be good for the island and its people. Criticized today by both those who favor statehood and those who favor independence, for much of his life he was seen as a hero by the majority of Puerto Ricans, and even those who condemn his policies today often still admire him in other ways. He oversaw dramatic development and socioeconomic improvement through most of the third quarter of the 20th century.

Muñoz was not an extravagant man, and the small country house where the Fundación is today was his preferred retreat (rather than the governor's palace in Old San Juan), where he conducted much of his business. It is not known how this flamboyant teaset came to be at the house -- whether it was in his family, or given to him as a gift while he was governor, for example. I have now begun to keep my eyes open for it when I look at old photographs (there were 100s taken at the house), but have not yet seen it in any.

posted 05-17-2006 04:00 PM            

quote:

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I think it's pretty clear that it was not likely made in Puerto Rico.

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Uh, why not? All it takes is one silversmith living in Puerto Rico to produce this. He need not have been a major smith, nor even one who stayed there long, nor even from Puerto Rico. Could have been passing through.

posted 05-17-2006 06:13 PM            

Disregarding style, in terms of history alone, it's unlikely to be Puerto Rican. The island has always been poor, relative to the other Spanish colonies and other Caribbean islands, and the period from the late 19th to mid-20th century (which is when this set feels like) was one of poverty even in that history. I know of a very small number of silversmiths working there in the late 18th to mid-19th century, and their production was almost exclusively liturgical silver - and not much of it; so far as I can tell none were able to make their living doing it, but worked in silver on the side from other jobs. And their work is recognizably within the Spanish colonial traditions.

There was an island elite, of course, but their tastes as documented in other material culture did not run in that (Asian style) direction. Even in Cuba -- the wealthiest of the Caribbean islands, which did support a small number of silversmiths, and which had a relatively large immigrant Asian population -- I've seen no evidence for Asian-styled silver or other household items. Again, consistently and recognizably within the Spanish colonial traditions.

After 1898 there was a gradual turn in PR towards the US in stylesetting in some domains. But since the symbolic thrust of that shift was to move away from things that allowed themselves to be stereotyped as 'primitive', that resulted in more modern styles coming in rather than foreign ethnic styles.

From 1898 to 1946 the governors of PR were American -- the first Puerto Rican appointee was Jesús Piñero, that year. The governors and their families had more freedom to be idiosyncratic, since their identity was not tied up with the island's in the same way. It's possible that it was handed down to LMM through the office rather than through his family (his father was also a noted speaker, writer, and political activist, but no more inclined towards trappings and finery), perhaps originating as a gift to one of the earlier governors -- but it doesn't seem like something LMM would have taken from the Governor's Mansion, both on grounds of ethics and taste. More likely it was a gift directly to him as governor; in the 1950s, the period in which he oversaw the modernization of the island, there were many international visitors coming to see how it was being done and if the techniques might be adapted to their own nations. It's also possible it originated with one of the American businessmen who flocked to PR in the 20th century to try to make their fortune; many of them were involved in international trade, and they could also have made gifts to the governor.

Note also that tea-drinking is not a significant Puerto Rican (or Spanish) tradition in the way that it is/was in American society.

I agree that the forms seem to have some French attributes. I even toyed with the idea that it might be Vietnamese, which of course had considerable French influence, but the heavy weight and the decorative motifs are unlike the southeast Asian silver I've handled.

I also agree that the TIK is likely a maker's mark, and 850 the fineness. I also think I've seen it before, on other pieces of similar style here in the US, but can't remember for sure, or where it might have been. That was part of my rationale in posting it here, to see if anyone else recognized it.

I'm not aware of a silversmithing tradition in Haiti, although with the French dominance I'd be surprised if there were none at all, at least in the major cities where the French elite lived. As to the likelihood of a silversmith passing through PR, why would he? Especially a silversmith working in such ethnic forms. It's not a profession that encourages mobility, with all the heavy and delicate stakes, anvils, hammers, etc. that are needed. In the US and Canada in the 19th century there was a good deal of movement of silversmiths, but that involved special circumstances of following expanding populations and markets (among other factors). Until fairly recently -- after LMM's time as governor for the most part -- I find little evidence for demand for silver goods on the island, even among the elite, so I don't see why a silversmith, especially one not making work in traditional Spanish colonial forms or contemporary US styles, would relocate there. It's not out of the question, but it does seem to stretch the imagination.

Sorry to have rattled on so long, but as you can tell this is an area I've devoted considerable energy to for a number of years. This teaset, though, is so alien to the familiar patterns that it begged trying to see if anyone else might recognize the work.

posted 05-18-2006 12:35 AM            

TIK Silver, Jl. Ngeksigondo 52 - Keboan KG 3/561 Kotagede Yogya

Here is another sites' listing:
TIK Silvercrafts:
Jl. Ngeksigondo 52 Keboan Kotagede
Tel. +62-274-371152

The sites that list TIK silver are from Java (Indonesia)and seem to list a city named "Joglosemar" as the nearby location of this shop?? Since it is in a foreign language I can't decipher much more.

There is also this:
"Kota Gede in Java is famous with its silver industry."

I also know that a "Tik" is a kind of holy barrel shaped item for holding scriptures- like a jewish Torah. So, maybe this TIK SILVER is actually a silver shop that makes those even though a tik is not capitalized at all(although I don't think those are generally silver), but I thought I'd share it just in case.

posted 05-18-2006 01:41 AM            

There is a recent book by Pienke W. H. Kal called Yogya Silver: Renewal of a Javanese Handicraft (ISBN: 9068321838).

posted 05-18-2006 10:01 AM            

Oddly, I had searched on the internet tik silver (without quotes), without finding this information. Hadn't tried it with quotes, which would've brought it right up. Object lesson for today....

And the term Yogya is new to me. I've ordered the book to start learning more!

posted 05-18-2006 05:03 PM            

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so I don't see why a silversmith, especially one not making work in traditional Spanish colonial forms or contemporary US styles, would relocate there

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Because silversmiths and all artisans make things to please their clients not themselves. It is not at all uncommon to find things made locally from a picture. Buildings are the most provable, but this applies to anything handmade. The style is not always a local one. Which is why I tend not to give so much weight to style compared to other considerations in looking at hand made things. There is even a whole catagory of things that appear to fall into a style called 'remembered'.

posted 05-18-2006 10:09 PM            

Research is great fun; I don't give up.
It is the thrill of the hunt, after all.