Figure of an Angel

THE APARADOR
Throughout colonial Spanish America, collectors of all heritages acquired luxury objects of diverse origins and displayed them in crowded groups. Aparadores, or small display cabinets with glass or wire-mesh doors, were set against the walls of the estrado and used to exhibit a variety of precious objects, in emulation of the fashionable European curiosity cabinets.

Asian or Asian-inspired pieces were extremely popular and included objects such as Chinese vases or American-made pottery vases in the Chinese style, Asian objects in hard stone, and Chinese porcelain figurines, especially Chinese guardian lions (Fu-dogs). Also on view were aromatic earthenware from Tonalá, Panama, and Chile, which sometimes were mounted in silver; glass objects; small alabaster or ivory religious figurines and plaques; gold and silver objects, especially those with animal designs; silver-filigree artifacts; coral branches or seashells mounted in gold or silver; carved coconut shells mounted in silver; and small religious images.