Textiles and jewellery

The museum houses an interesting collection of jewellery, mostly made up of folk jewellery from different regions of Spain. This collection originated with Archer M. Huntington's commission to produce the ‘Vision of Spain’ panels depicting Spain’s various regions for the Hispanic Society of New York.

As Sorolla acquired a collection of folk dress on his travels around Spain, he also added pieces of jewellery that went along with these costumes. Understandably enough, there is a significant amount of Valencian jewellery (earrings, brooches, combs), as well as significant pieces from Castilla-León (earrings and hoops, necklaces from La Alberca, accessories from Charra and Astorga dress, silver men’s buttons). From Galician folk costume, earrings and a galápago pendant have been preserved. Other pieces include medals, reliquaries and rosaries from many regions of the country.

A unique item in our collection is the ‘magic belt’, which consists of a velvet band from which 14 silver charms hang on 14 chains. This is a protective belt, probably dating from the 18th century, which was used to protect children against illness and other evils with amulets and religious objects.

The Museum's jewellery collection also includes a few pieces from high society, such as two men's pocket watches (one bearing the initials of Joaquín Sorolla), a pincushion and a silver spatula. There is also a small collection of Berber or Moroccan jewellery, probably acquired during the family's trip to Tetouan in 1917.

The collection consists of 269 pieces, inventoried and available for consultation online.

The Museum also holds some textiles, most of which were collected and purchased by Sorolla while travelling to prepare the panels for the Hispanic Society of America. These are examples of traditional costumes from different regions of Spain and can be seen in the panels decorating the library of the aforementioned society, as well as in the preparatory canvases he made.

Almost all of these pieces are from the late 19th and early 20th centuries; primarily from La Alberca (Salamanca), León, El Roncal (Navarre), Lagartera (Toledo) and Ansó (Huesca), but also from Segovia, Ávila and Valencia.

The collection also features fragments of old cloth collected by Sorolla and pieces from the family home.

These pieces are inventoried. Only a few elements of popular dress are included in the online catalogue, such as the costumes from Charra, Lagartera, Ansó, Roncal and Alberca. These can be found in the catalogue of the Sorolla Museum exhibition: Fiesta and Colour .

For more information about these collections, please consult the online catalogue. You can search by work title, topic or iconography. If you want to engage in a more specific search, you can enter the inventory number of these collections in a general search:

• Textiles: inventory numbers 60001 to 60433
• Jewellery: inventory numbers 70001 to 70159

Online catalogue

Textiles catalogue

Jewellery catalogue