Manila Galleon: From Asia to the Americas at Asian Civilisations Museum

 

Chest with view of Manila
Philippines, around 1650-60
Wood, pigments, binders, forged iron
© Gobierno del Estado de Puebla/Secretaría de Cultura, OPD “Museos Puebla”

 
 

Manila Galleon

From Asia to the Americas

November 16, 2023 – March 17, 2024

 

Manila Galleon explores a trade that connected Asia to the Americas and Europe. For centuries, Spanish ships laden with porcelain, silk, spices, and other goods sailed annually across the Pacific from Manila to Acapulco, returning with millions of pieces of silver.

Featuring over 140 extraordinary works of art from the 16th to 20th century, the exhibition reveals how people, goods, and ideas circulating through the global port cities of Manila and Mexico City created a distinctive shared cultural and artistic heritage. Looking at Manila as a precursor of Singapore, it reflects the unique qualities of Singapore's own blended society and the important role port cities have played in artistic and cultural exchanges that shaped the world.

 
 
 

Exhibition Preview

 

Folding screen with view of Mexico City
Attributed to Diego Correa
Mexico, 1690s
Wood, fabric, oil pigment, varnish
© Museo Nacional de Historia, Castillo de Chapultepec, Ciudad de México, Secretaría de Cultura (INAH)

Woman in Manton
Juan Luna (Filipino, 1857-1899)
Spain, Madrid, 1880s
Oil on canvas
© Ayala Museum, Manila
Gift of Mercedes Zobel McMicking

Carp Tureen
China, Jingdezhen, 1760-80
Porcelain
Gilded bronze mount: probably Spain, late 18th century
© Peabody Essex Museum, museum purchase made possible by an anonymous donor, 2006 AE86557.1AB

Cabinet with coat of arms of Mexico City
Philippines, Manila, early 17th century
Wood, bone, silver
2019-00743
© Asian Civilisations Museum

Chalice
Probably Mexico, 17th century
Gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, topaz, amethysts
© San Agustin Museum, Manila

Portrait of Hasekura Tsunenaga
Archita Ricci (1560-1635) or Claude Deruet (1588-1660)
Italy, around 1615
Oil on canvas
Private collection, Italy

Virgin of Guadalupe
Agustín del Pino (Mexican, active around 1705-28)
Mexico, early 18th century
Oil and mother-of-pearl on wood; frame of wood with mother-of-pearl
© Museo Franz Mayer, Mexico City

Chocolate Cup
© Asian Civilisations Museum

Model of a Manila galleon, scale 1:32
Maximo Agudo Mangas
Spain, 2023
Wood, metal, canvas
© Asian Civilisations Museum

Map of the Philippines
Pedro Murillo Velarde (cartographer) and Francisco Suarez (artist), engraved by Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay, 1734
Engraving
© Fernando and Catherine Zobel de Ayala Collection

Manila Shawl
China, early 20th century
Woven and embroidered silk, ivory
© Museo Franz Mayer, Mexico City

John the Evangelist
Mexico, 17th century
Feather mosaic and paper on copper
© Daniel Leibsohn Collection

Virgin of the Immaculate Conception
Philippines, Polo, 18th century
Carved and painted molave wood, gold
© Intramuros Administration Collection

Spanish dollar with Chinese marks
© National Museum of Singapore

Chest with view of Manila
Philippines, around 1650-60
Wood, pigments, binders, forged iron
© Gobierno del Estado de Puebla/Secretaría de Cultura, OPD “Museos Puebla”