.jpg?w=1)
拍品專文
Following England'’s conquest of Jamaica from Spain in 1655, Port Royal developed into a major city of the English Americas, comparable in size to Boston. Fuelled by pirate raids on Spanish galleons and ports and a growing plantation economy based on the enslavement of Africans, the city flourished with a wealth of fashionable imported goods and a plethora of local pewterers, silversmiths, blacksmiths, shipwrights and other tradesmen. This prosperity ended suddenly on 7 June 1692, when a massive earthquake swept two-thirds of the city under the ocean.
The present casket, possibly a comb or cheroot case, dates to this same period, and can be compared to other examples of tortoisehell-ware produced in Port Royal in the second half of the 17th century, probably by the same artist -- see for example the comb cases in the V&A (Comb Case. 1673. [V&A 524-1877] 'The tortoiseshell case and combs are among the earliest surviving works of art made in Jamaica that reflect European influence. The style of the decoration suggests that they were all made by the same unknown artist. The decoration on the case relates directly to Britain's seizure of the island. The newly awarded arms of Jamaica are engraved on one side, while three plants important to Jamaica's economy are represented on the other.') and another example, dated 1689, in the collection of the Institute of Jamaica, similarly decorated with the Jamaican coat-of-arms [2006.1.76 (R)].
The present casket, possibly a comb or cheroot case, dates to this same period, and can be compared to other examples of tortoisehell-ware produced in Port Royal in the second half of the 17th century, probably by the same artist -- see for example the comb cases in the V&A (Comb Case. 1673. [V&A 524-1877] 'The tortoiseshell case and combs are among the earliest surviving works of art made in Jamaica that reflect European influence. The style of the decoration suggests that they were all made by the same unknown artist. The decoration on the case relates directly to Britain's seizure of the island. The newly awarded arms of Jamaica are engraved on one side, while three plants important to Jamaica's economy are represented on the other.') and another example, dated 1689, in the collection of the Institute of Jamaica, similarly decorated with the Jamaican coat-of-arms [2006.1.76 (R)].