Object size: 5.0 x 10.0 x 18.0 cm
This pan iron could possibly be a product of a Mexican or American silversmith, copying a Chinese item. The hinged lid of the silver pan iron is engraved with a roundel filled with a flower and the sides are decorated with cartouches infilled with floating ducks. Such pan irons are commonly used in China, to iron out creases on delicate silk fabrics by placing hot charcoal into the vessel and passing over the fabric in a circular motion. There was significant Chinese influence in Mexico and South America on account of the Galleon Trade, where Spanish trade ships brought in silk, porcelain, tea, and spices from China, in exchange for locally mined silver. Large amounts of silver were often manufactured into jewellery or everyday objects, such as this pan iron, and transported across the vast Pacific Ocean directly from the Americas, as silver is the only currency Chinese merchants would accept for the trading of goods.
