Executoria de Nobleca de Don Xpoual de Villalobos y Lara [manuscript cover title]

Lima, 1626. Still very good.. 62 [i.e. 61] leaves. Folio. Limp vellum, ruled and lettered in ink; edges sprinkled red and black. Some creasing and staining to vellum. Small tissue repair to first leaf of text. Occasional dampstaining and foxing. Accomplished in a highly legible hand. An outstanding and minutely-detailed colonial Spanish patent of nobility, accomplished in Lima in the early part of the 17th century and illustrated with two full-page coats of arms. This patent was commissioned by one Cristóbal de Villalobos y Lara, corregidor or mayor of the Province of Yampares, a province in Bolivia in the Department of Chuquisaca. The office of corregidor was a municipal position, although the office holder was also required to assist the army in times of war. Among the many duties of this position were to promote and to carry out all manner of public works, maintain health standards and the police force, verify weights and measures, avoid contraband and prohibited merchandise and, in general, observe and impose commercial standards. The patent of nobility was a highly formal, official document, which not only confirmed the noble rank of the recipient but also could grant certain privileges commensurate with rank. As a result, the form was highly stylized, structured, and often quite lengthy -- the text of the present example runs to nearly 120 pages and traces the lineage of Villalobos y Lara for generations, generously assessing his claims to nobility. The outstanding features of the document are the two full-page illustrations of the new nobles' coats of arms on the initial two leaves, accomplished in gouache and gilt. Each shield features differing emblems in four quarters, lies on a folial background, and is headed by a knight's helmet. The second illustration also features a depiction of St. Sebastian and a knight on horseback, who is trampling what appear to be smiling peasants. Patents of nobility from colonial Spanish America from this early date are very rare on the market, and the present example has survived in fine condition.