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13 Archaeological Distribution of Chinese Porcelain in Mexico 217

Pachuca and Real del Monte, and in Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, and Guanajuato
(e.g. Brown 2012; Garner 1988), all of which made its way through the center of
New Spain at the capital of the viceroyalty erected atop the Aztec urban center in
Mexico City.
The mining of silver was a major interest of the Spanish, once they realized the
New World was not paved in gold (Brown 2012; Boorstein Couturier 2003). Silver
mining in the Spanish Empire in the New World, funded new enterprises and
conquests in Asia, and drew economies of the Americas, Europe, and Asia into a
wide global maritime network. That is to say that the foundations for the consol-
idation of the modern world system were established: in fact, Spain and its colonies
experienced the effects of both the cultural and economic logic of the Chinese world
system, in which transpaci!c trade had an important role, since Europeans inserted
themselves into a broad and complex pre-existing commercial network in Asia
(Brown 2012: 11–14). The silver extracted in the Spanish colonies paid for goods
produced in China and shipped from Manila to Acapulco in New Spain (Brook
2008: 161–162); the estimate is that 20% of the silver mined in New Spain was
destined for the acquisition of Asian commodities, with a total of 50% of all the
precious metal mined in the Spanish colonies (Clunas 2004: 131–132).
In 1521 while Cortes was conquering the Aztecs, Ferdinand Magellan sailing
westward across the Paci!c, discovered what would become the Mariana Islands
and the Philippines and claimed them for Spain (Díaz-Trechuelo 2001: 53;
Sala-Boza 2008: 244–245). After a successful return route eastward back to the
New World was established in 1565, trade was set up around 1574 (Ministerio de
Fomento 1877: 297) that could avoid the need for Spanish ships to travel west,
having to stop at ports of the Middle East and Africa that were under the control of
other European kingdoms, or risk encountering pirates on those established west-
erly routes back to Europe (Galvin 1999: 33, 39; Gruber 2012: 424–425).
This maritime route became of!cial during the period when Emperor Wanli of
the Ming dynasty reigned in China, precisely the time when the marks on the bases
of porcelain vessels were extremely relevant to guaranteeing the protection of
creativity and originality in the production of objects (Schäfer 2011: 252). In those
times, the main ports for foreign trade were located mostly in the province of
Fujian, Zhangzhou, which was also an important producer of export porcelain,
Quanzhou and Fuzhou, as well as Ningbo, harbor of the province of Zhejiang (Tan
2007; Wen-Chin 1988: 150).
Based on reports sent from Manila to the Spanish Crown, by the late sixteenth
century the Spaniards foolishly thought they could eventually conquer militarily
and spiritually China, as soon as they had the opportunity. The missives recorded
that it was the most fabulous kingdom in terms of goods: silks, cottons, musk,
honey and wax, jewelry, different kinds of wood of great value, and perfumes, all a
result of the human industry of so many ingenious and hardworking people well
governed (Colin 1900–1902: 438–444). In fact, the great kingdom of China was
undoubtedly the most extensive, most populated, most centralized, complex and
organized empire in the world at the time of European expansion to Asia (Ollé
2002: 10).