CHRISTIES ATOCHA AUCTION CATALOG PIRATE MEL FISHER Start Price USD 109.00 Current Price USD 109.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, September 23, 2008 End Time Thursday, October 23, 2008 Location Naples, Florida See more about 'CHRISTIES ATOCHA AUCTION CATALOG PIRATE MEL FISHER ' Description Atocha Auction Catalog Gold and Silver of the Atocha and Santa MargaritaAuction Catalog  Soft Bound Was $125.00Now $109.00 Tuesday, June 14 andWednesday, June 15, 1988Christie's New Yorkwww.christies.com      INTRODUCTIONSpain and the New WorldThe King of Spain, whose domin ions (ire full one third of the known world, whosetreasures in his western doininions are rich and durable mines of gold and silverfrom whence flows the wealth of Spain early sends... mighty ships of Spain intoAmerica, which moving road brings him home his annual treasures of gold and silver. John laylor, a captain’s clerk in William Phips’s fleet.No one has successfully calculated the amount of wealth that Spain extracted from its New World empire. Even at the time, it proved impossible to assess exactly how much gold and silver flowed eastwards across the Atlantic, that ‘moving road’ of treasures—’we cannot value or esteem the quantity of gold that is brought from the Indies, but we may well say that it is much more than that which Pliny reports was brought yearly from Spain to Rome’ wrote Joaquin Acosta with a note of irony in 1604.’ Yet it was a bounty that Spain squandered. Very little of it remained there, hut instead went immediately to finance the costly wars she was fighting in northern Europe and into the coffers of the Fuggers, Philip IV (1605-1665) by Velazquez, oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913 the King’s bankers, to help pay off debts already long overdue. And it was always too little and too late: Spain was terminally ill. With her cumbersome bureaucracy, rigid social structure and her almost fanatical devotion to the Catholic church, she had. by 1622, found it impossible to administer her vast dominions. Only the treasure from the Americas, landing in Guadalquivir in fits and starts, kept the patient alive. Elsewhere in Europe. the Dutch and the English, with few overseas possessions. were developing a mercantile hegemony that would. by the time of the War of Spanish Succession at the beginning of the l8th century, eclipse Spain as ruler of the seas.     INDIANS SURRENDERING GOLD TO THE SPANISH, ENGRAVING FROM DE BRY'S GREAT VOYAGES, FRANKFURT AM MAIN, 1591.   MEL FISHER (LEFT) CONFERS WITH DUNCAN MATHEWSON, HIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIRECTOR, OVER CHARTS OF THE ATOCHA'S HULL TIMBERS. PHOTO BY DON KINCAID   Christie's Atocha Auction Catalog258 Pages A GOLD BARRECOVERED FROM THE WRECK OP NUBSTRA SERORA DE ATOCHA IN 1985Of slender form, one end sheared off, struck seven times with traces of Royal tax stamp, threetimes with karat stamp XXI and one dot ( ¼) and once with mint stamp SARGOSA overP??A—77/sin. (20cm.) long21.25 karats, 16.49 oz. (513 grammes)Listed on the manifest of the .4tocIw, p. 3. item 16, as a bar and a small piece’ both of 21.25 karats A GOLD BARRECOVEREI) FROM THE WRECK OF NUESTRA SENORA DE ATOCHA IN 1985Oblong, with slight encrustation, struck six times with traces of Royal tax stamp, three timeswith karat stamp XXI and one dot (= ¼) and once with mint stamp AVN over C?IBAI—75/sin. (19.3cm.) long21.25 karats, 30.67 oz. (954 grammes) A GOLD BARRECOVERFO FROM THE WRECK OF NUESTRA SENORA DE ATOCHA IN 1985Finger-form, one end sheared off, struck five times with traces of the Royal tax stamp, threetimes with karat stamp XXI and two dots (= ½), and once with mint stamp stamp FLconjoined and AN conjoined over RADA—6’/4n. (15.9cm.) long21.5 karats, 10.65 oz. (331.3 grammes)A similar ‘finger bar’ with the same mint stamp is illustrated in Mathewson, 1986. plate C-6, and discussedpp. 127-128. The present bar, prior to conservation, is illustrated ibid. pl. C-7.          258 Pages Of Gold and Silver Plus Artifacts Recovered From The Atocha    THE FIRST ATOCHA SILVER BARRECOVERED FROM THE WRECK OF NUESTR.4 SENORA DE ATOCHA IN 1986    NATURAL UNCUT EMERALDSA CABOCHON EMERALDRECOVERED FROM THE WRECK OF NUESTR.4 SENORA DE ATOCHA IN 1986    Christie's Atocha Auction Catalog258 Pages    GOLD CHAIN RECOVERED FROM THE WRECK OF NUESTRA SENORA DE ATOCHA IN 1986A GOLD CHAINRECOVERED FROM THE WRECK OF NUESTRA SENORA DE ATOCHA IN 1975Comprising two hundred fifteen fine plain oval links—253/sin. (64.2 cm.) longRECOVERED FROM THE WRECK OF NUESTRA SENORA DE ATOCHA IN 1985With triangular shank and plain slightly taperin1rectangular box bezel with moulded base These Atocha Relics Are Not For Sale  A HIGHLY IMPORTANT EMERALD AND GOLD RINGRECOVERED FROM THE WRECK OF NUESTR.4 SENORA DE ATOCHA IN 1986The faceted slightly tapering shank engraved with shortscrolls with remains of black enamel, the deep rectangular box bezel engraved underneath with panels of scrolls enclosing a cross of four lozenges, also with traces of black enamelling, the bombe sides with similar decoration below a hand of arcading enamelled in black, set with a rectangular table-cut emerald of light yellowish-green color and fine clarity.Similar rings appear scattered in the foreground of Jan Brucghel the Younger’s painting, Still-life with Jewelry, early 17th century, in the Musee Royale des Beaux Arts, Brussels (illustrated in Hackenbroch, p. 260, no. 709). The Form of the ring is type 59 mentioned in Taylor and Scarisbrick,The emerald itself shows quite clearly a three-phase inclusion (a liquid-filled cavity, a carbon dioxide gas bubble and a microscopic crystal of halite) thus pointing definitely to a Colombian origin.Equally, the color and absence of pyrite suggests that without doubt it is a product of the Muzo mine (see Introduction, p. 44).   Christie's Atocha Auction Catalog258 Pages   A FINE CORAL AND GOLD ROSARYRECOVERED FROM THE WRECK OF NUESTRA SENORA DE ATOCHA TN 1973Formed of five decades of Coral beads with five fluted gold paternosters between, the gaud depending from a further three coral beads in the form of a Cross with baluster arms, Chased in the Center with a sunburst (originally enamelled), the lower arm applied with a ring—overalllength 26½in. (57.5 cm.)Throughout Europe, but especially in Spain, coral was held to have great amuletic powers, offering protection against magic spells. The roots of this tradition can be traced back through the Middle Ages to its source in Greek mythology, which asserted that coral originated as the spurts of blood that gushed forth when Medusa’s head was cut off by Perseus.Coral rosaries were especially popular in Spain. Several are listed in the inventory of jewels owned byJuana Ia Loca, including one with a small gold pendant in the form of an urn (probably a holy water vial).Another Spanish coral and gold example, but with filigree paternosters and gaud, was formerly in the collection of Thomas F. Flannery, Jr., of Chicago.    Christie's Atocha Auction Catalog258 Pages   A MAGNIFICENT AND HIGHLY IMPORTANT RENAISSANCE GOLDCHAINRECOVERED FROM THE WRECK OF THE SANTA MARGARITA IN 1980Comprising one hundred thirty-six oval links Continuously formed of Cross-form cross-section,alternately twisted and with serrated edges—length of each link 7/sin. (2.3cm); overall length61 15/16in. (157.5 cm.) Throughout Europe during the sixteenth century and well into the seventeenth century. chains like the present example were worn by both sexes, often in addition to more elaborate enamelled and gem-setnecklaces, Their presence in so many portraits, worn with a badge or medal of office or a wedding medal,suggests that their use was either ceremonial or merely a conspicuous display of wealth. In the portrait ofWilliam Brooke, 10th Lord Cobham and his family at Longleat (illustrated on p. 178), even some of thechildren are depicted wearing several strands of gold chains1. Moreover, the custom of giving gold chainsas diplomatic gifts continued through the seventeenth century; in 1623 Endymion Porter received a goldchain while in Madrid, ‘the prettiest making that I ever saw—possibly of Oriental origin, as were manyreferred to in contemporary accounts2.The 1619 inventory of Emperor Mathias’s collections lists a number of chains, all lost: -1049, A ducat-goldchain with twisted elements, weighing 67 ducats; 1050, A knitted chain with 6 lengths, weighing 67½crowns; 1051, A curb chain one width long, weighing 72½ crowns; 1052, A ‘muzzle” chain, weighingtogether with the golden lamb 11½ crowns: 1053, A rectangular wirework chain, weighing together withthe golden fleece 88½ crowns ,Chains identical in form to the present example are found in several contemporary portraits, such as the1623 portrait of Georg IV by Johann Kreuzfelder4 and the portrait of Margareta Bronsen, probably in herwedding garments, by Michael Conrad Hirt, 1641,now in the St. Anna Church, Lubeck, illustrated here5.Similar links appear in a portrait of Margaretha van Nispen of 1570, new in the Rijksmuseum,Amsterdam6 and illustrated on p. 174. In this painting the sitter is shown with a massive gold chain whichappears to be worn around the waist with the weight taken on the hips. The chain joins at the front.comprises groups of approximately twelve oval large molded links with openwork lozenge-shaped links(cf. lots 168, 169) at intervals, and suspends a pomander which is held in the hand. Two versions ofVelazquez’s full length portrait of the young Philip IV in black illustrated as the frontispiece show himwearing a similar chain over one shoulder’.  These Atocha Relics Are Not For Sale  A SUPERB SILVER-GILT TWO-HANDLED CUPRECOVERED FROM THE WRECK NUESTRA SENORA DE ATOCHA IN 1985Of extremely heavy gauge, on plain spool foot, the sides raised into ten lobes, the exterior incised with plain ruled borders, the center with circular boss rising to a point, engraved with continuous scrolls (probably originally enamelled), with two upright ‘question-mark’ handles, struck twice in Bowl with pomegranate and crown within a headed circular punch—length over handles 6 5/8in. (16.9cm.)A very similar fluted cup, appears in Juan Bautista de Espinosa’s Still Life With Silver-gilt Salvers illustrated and discussed on p. 27. Another of the same form, described as a catavinos. halLmarked forZaragoza, is illustrated in Fernandez et al,. p. 132. p1. 1543.  The significance of the boss in the interior of the present example is unclear. Brilliantly enamelled, it mighthave served, along with the bright convex flutes of the sides, to show the clarity of the wine, much in the same way the raised boss in the bottom of a traditional wine taster does. Yet its presence as the centerpiece of Espinoza’s painting suggests perhaps another function. Assuming that the picture depicts all the components of a hipocras. or alcoholic punch, then it is possible that the raised boss acted in much the same way as a modern orange juicer the presence of an orange directly in front of the cup the smallsize typical of the period—would seem to bear this out. Equally though, a fig, commonly used at this period to sweeten water, could be spiked on it.Nonetheless these raised bosses must be seen ultimately to derive from the often elaborate cage-type bosses intended to hold a bezoar stone in the so-called 'poison-cups’ of the Renaissance period. One suchis the gold cup recovered from the wreck of Atocha in 1973 and now the property of the MaritimeHistorical Society.The present cup was featured in the National Geographic Societys television special. Atocha: Quest forTreasure.    Christie's Atocha Auction Catalog258 Pages    A SILVER TWO-HANDLED BOWLRECOVERED FROM THE WRECK NUESTRA SENORA DE ATOCHA IN 1985Plain circular with tapering sides and applied at the rim with two "question mark" handles.  Length over handles 6 5/8in. (16.9cm.)   Still Life Chocolate Service, attributed to Zurbaran, oil on canvas. Mus'ee des Beaux-Art, Besancon. A SILVER BELLRECOVERED FROM THE WRECK NUESTRA SENORA DE ATOCHA IN 1985Of typical form, with tri-part pierced handle and iron clapper-14in. (35.5cm.) high.The soft nature of the silver and lack of any wear on the inside of the bell make it unlikely that this was intended for use. Additionally, the roughness of the casting suggests that it could possibly have been contraband silver and  its true composition disguised on board by patination to resemble bronze.     These Atocha Relics Are Not For Sale  Gold and Silver of the Atocha and Santa MargaritaTuesday, June 14 andWednesday, June 15, 1988Christie's New Yorkwww.christies.com  The Last BRAND NEW Christie's Auction Catalogs In The World   Soft BoundWas $125.00Now $109.00     Christie's Atocha Auction Catalog258 Pages   We accept Master Card, Visa, and Discover by calling our toll free 800 number or PayPal.Winning bidder pays $5.00 Priority Mail shipping.Florida Residents Add 6% Sales Tax100% Satisfaction Guaranteed Or Your Money Back!Coming Soon Atocha Ship Model Hi Kenny,   All I can say is WOW! I'm sure you receive email like this all-the-time, so add my name to the list of verrrrry pleased buyers. I just received the package today and was so surprised at what I found. The coin pendant is beautiful and the bonus gift replicas coins are such a nice touch, more than what I expected. You are a real find and very professional, the presentation and literature is most impressive, I left feedback accordingly.  I will buy from your company again.   Thank you,   Lin Schmelzer lov2shopok I would like to let you know YOU ARE THE BEST SELLER ON EBAY!  You sent me sooo much stuff with this beautiful fish!!!!!!!!!  I am trying to convince my boyfriend to buy one with a emerald eye.  Do you have more?  Do you have any other jewelry with the coin in it they may be unique?  Thank you again!  I LOVE it!!!!   =) Katherine Kenny- I received this item today, and it's even better than I expected. What a great looking piece! I look forward to future purchases. Thanks for the great products. Also, I left you positive feedback as well. Take care! Rich in Daytona Beach (FLHRICH) HI!  I just wanted you to know that I received my 2 Four Reale pieces today (the ones set in sterling silver bezels).  My jaw dropped  These items are SPECTACULAR!!!!  Not only are the bezel-set coins of uncomparable quality, but the presentation, accompanying literature and bonus coin replicas are just too good to be true.  I, who am not easily impressed, was floored!  You do magnificent work and I promise that I will recommend you to anyone who'll listen.  In fact, I'm so excited about these items, that I'm reluctant to let them go (if you remember our conversation last week, my original intention was to set them on necklaces and give them as gifts).   Hope all is well and that you've been able to weather Charlie and Frances (not to mention the upcoming Ivan) intact.  Keep safe and THANK YOU!   Sincerely, Marianne Lobosco-Vilardi   Place a Bid!