Lot Essay
Accompanying this lot is a set of documents which [have been compiled by the present owner. These documents] illustrate and compliment the historical value of the necessaire [including] letters of purchase, certificates of restoration, newspaper clippings among other texts. Prominent among these documents is a letter from Mr. Manuel Landaeta Rosales to Mr. Antonio Cachazo II written November 11, 1905. In 1905 Mr. Cachazo purchased the necessaire from Mrs. Elvira Mármol Muñoz and Mrs. Emilia Obregón de Trujillo on October 31, 1905 which he then allowed Mr. Rosales, a popular historian of the time, for an opinion. This is his response, (translated from Spanish):
Caracas: November 11, 1905
Mr. Antonio Cachazo II
My dear sir,
I have seen the antique Necessaire, or box
containing the shaving utensils, and which is
believed to have belonged to the Liberator,
Simon Bolivar.
The age of these utensils would make one
believe to have been used by the Great Man.
The silver plate on the lid of the box inscribed
with the initials S.B. - J.T. translates as thus:
S.B. = Simón Bolivar; and J.T. = Juan
Toro, brother of the Generals Francisco
Rodriguez del Toro y Fernando Toro, all
beloved friends of the Liberator.
Within the thousands of letters written
to the Liberator from the collection of
O'Leary, there are no other initials
J.T. other than of Juan Toro.
Also, among the collection of documents, is a letter from Elvira de Mármol Muñoz and Emilio Obregón de Trujillo dated October 31, 1905, when the piece was sold to Mr. Cachazo. In the letter, the claim the inherited the piece from their grandmother Mrs. Juana Pullerana de Obregón, who was then married to Capt. Valdez, a relative of the Liberator.
When the piece next exchanged hands, it was documented with a letter on government letterhead and bearing seals from the Nation Treasurer of Venezuela and the General Administrator of Caracas. The letter is dated November 12, 1952, and it monitors the exchange of the piece from the hands of Mrs. Berta Guerra de Cachazo and Miss Cecilia Cachazo Guerra (wife and daughter to Mr. Antonio Cachazo respectively) to the hands of the father of the piece's current owner.
Also included are a certificate of restoration from Mr. Carlos Duarte, a distinguished conservationist of Caracas, and letters from historians Manuel Perez Vila and Mr. Alfredo Boulton, who in turn is a recognized scholar on Simon Bolivar.
Several times this necessaire appeared in the papers and once on television. The present owner has saved all these newspaper clippings and they form part of this collection of documents.
Finally, the present owner points out in the study he made of the necessaire, that in the Museo Bolivariano de Caracas there are two shaving blades which bear the same seal found on the objects of the necessaire illustrated above, and which could have formed part of the collection of utensils which belong to this necessaire.
Caracas: November 11, 1905
Mr. Antonio Cachazo II
My dear sir,
I have seen the antique Necessaire, or box
containing the shaving utensils, and which is
believed to have belonged to the Liberator,
Simon Bolivar.
The age of these utensils would make one
believe to have been used by the Great Man.
The silver plate on the lid of the box inscribed
with the initials S.B. - J.T. translates as thus:
S.B. = Simón Bolivar; and J.T. = Juan
Toro, brother of the Generals Francisco
Rodriguez del Toro y Fernando Toro, all
beloved friends of the Liberator.
Within the thousands of letters written
to the Liberator from the collection of
O'Leary, there are no other initials
J.T. other than of Juan Toro.
Also, among the collection of documents, is a letter from Elvira de Mármol Muñoz and Emilio Obregón de Trujillo dated October 31, 1905, when the piece was sold to Mr. Cachazo. In the letter, the claim the inherited the piece from their grandmother Mrs. Juana Pullerana de Obregón, who was then married to Capt. Valdez, a relative of the Liberator.
When the piece next exchanged hands, it was documented with a letter on government letterhead and bearing seals from the Nation Treasurer of Venezuela and the General Administrator of Caracas. The letter is dated November 12, 1952, and it monitors the exchange of the piece from the hands of Mrs. Berta Guerra de Cachazo and Miss Cecilia Cachazo Guerra (wife and daughter to Mr. Antonio Cachazo respectively) to the hands of the father of the piece's current owner.
Also included are a certificate of restoration from Mr. Carlos Duarte, a distinguished conservationist of Caracas, and letters from historians Manuel Perez Vila and Mr. Alfredo Boulton, who in turn is a recognized scholar on Simon Bolivar.
Several times this necessaire appeared in the papers and once on television. The present owner has saved all these newspaper clippings and they form part of this collection of documents.
Finally, the present owner points out in the study he made of the necessaire, that in the Museo Bolivariano de Caracas there are two shaving blades which bear the same seal found on the objects of the necessaire illustrated above, and which could have formed part of the collection of utensils which belong to this necessaire.