Exploring local glassmaking and social significance: golded glass beads in colonial Mexico City

Abstract

[EN]This article centers on gilded glass beads discovery through excavations conducted by the INAH in Mexico City, with a particular focus on the collection from the Convent of the Incarnation. This study challenges two prevalent notions regarding this artifacts in New Spain. Firstly, the archaeological context difies the conventional belief that this beads were exclusively intended for indiginous or african original populations. Evidence suggeststhat these items were also a component of the attire worn by spanish women of peninsular and creole origin who constituted the local elite. Secondly, by combining archaeological findings with historical sources, it becames evident that the viceroyalty fostered a specialized glassmaking industry for the production of small objects, including beads. The practice of beadmaking in New Spain commenced during the 16th century and experienced its zenith in the 18th century, characterizes by the emergency of distinctive stylistic features that probably included gildes beads.