Quito, 18th Century
Judith Beheading Holofernes; Judith’s Maid Hiding the Head of Holofernes
Bas-relief ivory carvings in two semi-spheres; decorative diamond patterns on the exterior
Diameter: 2 5/16 inches (5.8 cm)
There are several of these bas-relief carvings inside ivory-colored spheres preserved in prominent art museums like the Museo del Prado, Madrid; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Bargello, Florence; Museo Nacional de Arte Colonial, Quito, as well as in private collections, like the prominent collection of Lydia Sada de González.
They are catalogued, with only one exception, as Quito school, and eighteenth-century. Some are polychromed, and some are not.
Margarita Estella Marcos posits that the Quiteño bas-reliefs were inspired by earlier Mexican miniature ivory bas-reliefs. She notes that the prototypes may be Chinese, 17th and 18th-century, and/or the European carved rosary beads that were made 16th-18th centuries; many examples survive from the Low Countries. The Quiteño bas-reliefs were obviously not intended as ‘rosary beads’ but could serve their function as private and portable devotional objects.
There are many representations of the Old Testament female warriors in the art of the Viceroyalties of South America and Mexico, but among the extant examples of these Quiteño carvings, this is the first depicting the subject that we have encountered.
