A journey into Spanish colonial America and the people who lived in that era through objects, art, colonial documents, and contemporary research.

This long-awaited follow-up to Deagan's first volume on ceramics, glassware, and beads focuses on the portable personal objects owned and used by the residents of Spanish colonial America. These objects are not only of Spanish origin; the collection includes many English, French, Dutch, German, Italian, and American pieces as well. Deagan not only provides an authoritative source of identification for these items but also draws extensively on colonial documents, travel accounts, paintings, and museum collections, as well as other contemporary sources to suggest specific functions of the items and the meanings they held for the people who used them. She documents and demonstrates how the objects were made and exchanged in the Americas, and explores how they embody Hispanic cultural identities, attitudes, and belief systems.