18th C. Spanish Colonial Hide-Covered Document Box - Iron Lock & Brass Tacks

Spanish Colonial, Americas. A domed-lid casket of pine sheathed in hair-on hide, its rawhide skin worn to a mottled chamois and umber surface where the original pelt has rubbed away. Rows of domed brass tacks march along every edge, securing the hide and tracing a scalloped collar around the wrought-iron carrying handle on the lid. A hand-forged iron lockplate and pierced keyhole anchor the front, paired with a strap hasp riveted to the underside of the lid. The interior retains its paper lining, soft and creased with age. Boxes of this type, light enough to carry yet sturdy enough to lock, safeguarded documents, coin, and valuables in colonial households and on muleback journeys, a humble but evocative survivor of Spanish provincial craft in the Americas. Hide-covered traveling and document chests were a staple of the Spanish colonial world, descended from the Iberian "petaca" tradition. Cowhide or deerhide was stretched wet over a softwood carcass and tacked down with brass nails; as it dried it shrank into a tight, protective skin. Such boxes traveled the trade routes of New Spain and the Rio de la Plata, where the hide was both abundant and durable against weather and rough handling. The wrought-iron lock and hasp, individually forged by a local blacksmith, mark the contents as worth securing: deeds, letters, jewelry, or specie. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 163480

Estimate:£168.19

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