A richly illustrated guide to the identification and dating of the material culture of the Spanish circum-Caribbean colonies from about 1500 to 1800. Deagan examines artifacts of both European and New World manufacture in the political and economic context of post-Columbian America.

A richly illustrated guide to the identification and dating of the material culture of the Spanish circum-Caribbean colonies from about 1500 to 1800. Deagan examines artifacts of both European and New World manufacture in the political and economic context of post-Columbian America.

"This unique volume illustrates and discusses in detail more than 160 extraordinary fine and decorative art works of the colonial Andes, including examples of the intricate Inca weavings and metalwork that preceded the colonial era as well as a few of the remarkably inventive forms this art took after independence from Spain. An international array of scholars and experts examines the cultural context, aesthetic preoccupations, and diverse themes of art from the viceregal period, particularly the florid patternings and the fanciful beasts and hybrid creatures that have come to characterize colonial Andean art."--Jacket.