Artistic Legacies and the Transpacific Journey of Hispano-Filipino Ivories

Abstract

The term “Hispano-Filipino ivories” is used here to refer to ivory sculptures from the Philippines that traveled to the Iberian Peninsula aboard the Manila galleons beginning in the sixteenth century. This essay examines the context of their transoceanic journey: Did they arrive as isolated pieces, or were they part of a larger artistic exchange? The main purpose of this essay is to document some surviving examples of Hispano-Filipino ivory sculptures in Spain.