José de Alcibar

Collection of Mrs. Jean Herrick van Waveren, Greenwich, Connecticut
Thence by descent to the present owner 

The canvases of each of the works are well-stretched. Each work exhibits fine craquelure under raking light, but the paint layer overall is stable. Under ultraviolet examination, a varnish becomes apparent on all of the works. (1) De Españól, y Negra, nace Mulata; This work is numbered 4 in the upper right. The canvas has been mounted to the stretcher, and appears to have been glued along the edges. Light wear and frame abrasion are present along all four edges of the canvas. Under ultraviolet examination, small areas of inpainting become apparent throughout the composition. (2) De Mulato, é India, nace Chino; This work is numbered 14 in the upper right. Areas of paint loss are present along the right quadrants of the canvas, particularly along the edge. Additional small flecks of loss are present in the upper left quadrants. Paint loss is particularly present throughout the lower quadrants of the work; this area also exhibits craquelure and is actively flaking. Frame abrasion is visible along all extreme edges. The paint layer is stable in the main, central area of the composition. Under ultraviolet examination, isolated areas of inpainting become apparent along the right edge of the work and in the upper left quadrant. (3) De Españól, é India, nace Mestiza; This work is numbered 1 in the upper right. Minor flecks of paint loss are scattered in the upper right and left quadrants of the work. Light wear and frame abrasion are present along all four edges of the canvas. (4) De Sambaygo, é India, nace Cambujo; This work is numbered 9 in the upper right. Light wear and frame abrasion are present along all four edges of the canvas. Under ultraviolet examination, scattered areas of inpainting become apparent in the lower quadrants. (5) De Españól, y Mestiza, nace Castizo; This work is numbered 9 indistinctly in the upper right. Light wear and frame abrasion are present along all four edges of the canvas. Under ultraviolet examination, scattered minor areas of inpainting become apparent throughout the work. (6) De Cambujo, y Mulata, nace Albarazado; This work is numbered 10 in the upper right. Light wear and frame abrasion are present along all four edges of the canvas. (7) De Indio, y Loba, nace Sambayga; This work is numbered 8 in the upper right. Light frame abrasion and wear are present along all four edges of the canvas, particularly concentrated along the bottom and central top edges. A one-inch diagonal dent to the canvas along with paint loss is present in the central left quadrant, above the rose bushes. Under ultraviolet examination, areas of inpainting become apparent, concentrated along the edges of the canvas. (8) De Españól, y Mulata, nace Morisca This work is numbered 5 in the upper right. Light wear and frame abrasion are present along the extreme upper and right edges of the canvas.
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This set of eight casta paintings, rendered in exquisite detail by 18^th century Mexican master José de Alcíbar, is an excellent example of this uniquely colonial Mexican style. A extraordinary find from a United States collection, several of the works are signed by the artist and dated 1778, contributing to their rarity. Named for the Spanish legal segregation system established in the early 17^th century, casta paintings display an invented taxonomy of human races. Likely originally part of a group of sixteen or more paintings, this set demonstrates eight of the casta pairings invented by Spanish colonizers to “narrate the process of racial mixing in the colony.” (1) 

Carlos III, who ruled the Spanish Empire from 1759-1788, implemented dramatic reforms in Mexico to maximize the colony’s economic benefit to Spain, and to curb what was seen as a derelict and unproductive society dominated by racial “hybrids.” First among these reforms was a complete restructuring of the colonial administration which significantly diluted the power of the Church, allowing for rapid expansion of trade. Second was an increase in taxes and improved management of estancos: royal monopolies on products such as mercury, playing cards, salt, paper, ice cream, and tobacco. The impact of these new regulations and monopolies is evidenced in this group of castas, many of which not only advertise products like tobacco, but also depict scenes of commerce and daily life in Mexico City. In these works, Alcíbar uses the casta format to capture the contemporary moment, creating complex scenes of ordinary life, and portraying the rapid development of Mexico City and Mexican culture during this period of globalization.

The central composition of De Español, y Mulata, nace Morisca, unfolds against the charmingly rendered backdrop of the ancient floating gardens of Xochimilco. The canal system supporting these gardens, which originally supplied food for inhabitants of Tenochtitlán (Mexico City), were adapted by the Spanish as transport routes for agricultural goods but also as gardens for recreation. Alcíbar depicts a woman playing the lute as she is steered in a small canoe alongside bountiful floating fields and tradesmen, capturing the changing nature of the city and the close relationship between commerce and leisure.

In De Español y India, nace Mestiza, a Spanish gentleman examines goods offered for sale by an Indian woman and their daughter. The wide variety of textiles and styles of shoes depicted by Alcíbar indicates not only the growth of local production, but also the influence of developed trade routes with both the East and the West. As the central hub of the Manila Galleon trade, Mexico City benefited from the exchange of porcelain, silk, ivory, spices, and other goods from East Asia in exchange for South American silver.

The aesthetic influences of this exchange are visible in the elaborate silk and embroidered garments worn by many of the aristocratic figures in these paintings, but also in the everyday objects that are present in the background of the scenes. In the kitchen scene, De Español y Negra, nace Mulata, Alcíbar depicts the woman in a delicate white dress adorned with intricate blue floral patterning, evocative of the Chinese and Japanese ceramics that were fashionable at the time. On the table behind her, talavera bowls are stacked alongside Chinese-inspired blue and white ceramics, produced by Mexican artisans to satisfy increasingly cosmopolitan tastes.

Vibrant and delicately rendered, each individual work offers an elaborate portrait of colonial Mexican society. As a group, they range from moralizing to charming to perhaps satirical, and invite the spectator to closely observe each meticulously painted detail for its embedded meanings. Beguiling and complex, Alcíbar’s eight paintings offer a fascinating peek into the past.

 (1) Ilona Katzew, Casta Painting: Images of Race in Eighteenth-Century Mexico, New Haven, 2004, p. 61