Winter Autograph, Art and Sports Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/26/2015
Spanish conquistador, conqueror of the Incan Empire, and founder of Lima
Spanish conquistador, conqueror of the Incan Empire, and founder of Lima, the modern-day capital of the Republic of Peru. Pizarro’s rubric, in ink, on an off-white 4 x 3 slip removed from a larger document. Notation in another hand under signature reads “Jauja—1534.” Several light vertical folds (one passing through a single stroke of the signature), horizontal fold under signature, a couple of small spots, and a few creases, otherwise fine condition. The composition of the signed slip identifies it as the type of paper used in 16th century Peru. Included for comparison is an unrelated 1574 Peruvian manuscript document penned on laid paper, granting the power of attorney to sell slaves. Other than being produced with a laid pattern, both the 1534 and 1574 sheets of paper are similarly composed of linen rag and hemp fiber, commonly used in 16th century Peru. Based on the added notation, this amazing ‘signature’ of the famed conquistador dates the item to shortly after April 1534, when Pizarro established Jauja as Peru’s provisional capital, a year before he founded Lima.
As he was not fully literate and never learned to sign his name, he represented his signature on documents with a rubric—including the unique design on this scarce artifact. This particular Pizarro signature originated from a descendent of President John Adams, whose hobby was preserving family mementos and chronicling family history, and was part of a large collection passed down in the family. A 1536 power of attorney signed by Pizzarro sold for $97,500 at Christie’s in 2007—one of only two Pizarro documents to appear at auction in the last century.
Francis Pizarro, conqueror of the Incan Empire
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