Demolition due to sale: The international market in Spanish ceilings in the twentieth century

Abstract

During the first decades of the twentieth century, numerous Spanish Ceilings from the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries were sold and exported to museums and private collections. The international discovery of the beauty of the Alhambra in Granada since the nineteenth century, the taste for Spanish architecture promoted by the Spanish Colonial Revival Style in the United States, or the appeal of some ceilings which were exported from Spain early—such as those from Torrijos palace (Toledo)—contributed to this intense international demand. Decorated Wooden Ceilings in Spain (Byne and Byne, Decorated wooden ceilings in Spain, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1920) by Arthur Byne and Mildred Stapley Byne became a source of inspiration for architects, as well as a useful catalogue for antique dealers and collectors. Byne himself was one of the main dealers responsible for this commercial traffic, and W. R. Hearst emerged as the greatest collector of Spanish Ceilings. The sale of ceilings led to the ruin of important buildings.

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Resumen

Durante las primeras décadas del siglo XX numerosos techos españoles de los siglos XIV, XV y XVI, fueron vendidos y exportados con destino a museos y colecciones privadas. La difusión de los encantos de la Alhambra de Granada desde el siglo XIX, el gusto por la arquitectura española promovida por el Spanish Colonial Revival Style en EE. UU., o la belleza de algunos techos que tempranamente salieron de las fronteras españolas—como los del palacio de Torrijos (Toledo)—, contribuyeron a que la demanda internacional fuera intensa. Decorated Wooden Ceilings in Spain (1920) de Arthur Byne y Mildred Stapley Byne se convirtió en una fuente de inspiración para arquitectos, además de un verdadero catálogo para anticuarios y coleccionistas. Byne fue uno de los principales responsables de este tráfico comercial, y W. R. Hearst se erigió como el mayor coleccionista de techos españoles. La venta de techos supuso la ruina de notables edificios.