Votive Lamp. Silver Color. Cadiz, 18th Century (1767).

Votivelamp. Silver in its color. Cadiz, 18th century (1767). No hallmarks. Inscribed.A silver-colored ceiling lamp featuring a deep lower section divided intolevels by a series of moldings, ending in a ring and decorated with plant andarchitectural elements; a series of chains alternating elongated links withround rings; and a top finial reminiscent of the aforementioned lower sectionin its shapes and decoration. Inside a shield topped with a crown appears an inscriptionrelating to the person who donated the piece and the date: “By the devotion ofD. Manuel Joseph de Alba. Made in Cadiz in the year 1767”. A record is kept atthe University of Veracruz (record code 27_1767_12485, folio 115 back-117,record location Jalapa) in which Don Manuel José de Alba is mentioned, thelegitimate son of Don Juan José de Alba and Doña Beatriz de Aragón, a native ofthe town of Chiclana and resident of the city of Cadiz, residing in Jalapa.Someone with the same name (probably the one alluded to in the piece) appearsin documents from 1767 from the Corpus Christi Convent in Alcalá de losGazules. Votive lamps are a type of liturgical furnishings whose purpose was toburn to illuminate either an image to which one felt a strong devotion or theBlessed Sacrament, so they were frequently found accompanying the tabernaclesof chapels. Several early examples survive, mainly in private collections andecclesiastical institutions. Compare, for example, the 1720 Juan del Río lampfrom New Mexico (Franz Mayer Museum, Mexico City, Mexico); three from the 18thcentury in the church of Santa María de Tobed (Zaragoza, Spain); another from1788 in the parish of Nuestra Señora de Gracia de Montalbán in Córdoba (Spain);etc. Weight: 3020 grams. · Size: 46x46x115 cms