IA8 Simão de Melo (d. 1570) from an inventory of his goods
Simão de Melo was a crown official and former captain of the Portuguese state in Malacca in the 1540s. On his death in Lisbon in 1570, an inventory of his estate was made for his widow and children. This inventory is notable not only for its breadth, but for citing the countries from which the items in de Melo’s possession originated. These included East Africa (Malindi, in modern Kenya), Hormuz, on the Persian Gulf, Yazd and Khorasan (in Iran), Sindh (present‐day Pakistan), various places in India (including ‘Cambay’ – Khambhat in Gujurat – and Bengal), Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), Borneo, China and Japan. The present extracts list a variety of luxury goods from the East in de Melo’s possession, including gold jewellery, carpets, gems, pearls, metalwork and porcelain. Tellingly, the list of ‘goods’ also included several slaves. The extensive inventory, here only partially excerpted, has been translated into English for the first time by Hugo Miguel Crespo. Its source is Direcção‐Geral do Livro, Arquivos e Bibliotecas, Torre do Tombo, Feitos Findos, Inventários post mortem, Letra S, Maço 21, Documento 16.
One strand of gold filigree beads from Hormuz […]. Some long cylindrical gold filigree beads and spacers from Hormuz […]. One other fish‐bone gold chain from India of pure gold […]. One tortoiseshell casket with gold mounts set with gemstones from Ceylon […]. Two gem‐studded gold bracelets made in Ceylon […]. Another two gold bracelets set with rubies from Vijayanagara […]. Two gold needle cases and two thimbles set with rubies from Ceylon […]. Four small gourd‐shaped [gold] earrings from Ceylon set with rubies […]. Two gold pear‐shaped [earrings] from Ceylon set with rubies […]. Seven large [gold] buttons set with fine rubies from Ceylon […]. Twenty‐two [gold] buttons set with fine rubies from Ceylon […]. Fourteen and a half [gold] beads filled with ambergris […]. One strand of [rock] crystal beads with five gold spacers set with rubies from Ceylon and a matching cross […]. Three pearls, one round and bored and two long unbored ones […]. Another large pear‐shaped pearl […]. One [gold] ring set with a cat’s‐eye [i.e. yellow‐to‐green chatoyant chyrsoberyl] enamelled in black […]. Fourteen pearls […]. Three [rock] crystal spoons mounted in gold and set with rubies from Ceylon […]. Three [rock] crystal forks mounted in gold and set with rubies from Ceylon […]. A gold boat‐shaped vessel made in India […]. A casket from China with silver mounts and silver lockplate […]. Another small Chinese casket with silver mounts […]. Four onças [114.7 g] of ambergris […]. Two onças and five oitavas [75.2 g] of ambergris […]. A Chinese writing box with silver fittings and silver lock, with its gilded drawers and silver pullers […]. Another Chinese writing box with brass fittings […]. One old Chinese casket with its broken lid […]. One small Chinese casket for headdresses […]. One Chinese round box used as an inkwell […]. One gilded writing box from China […]. Three Chinese basketry trays with their covers […]. One white mat from Malindi [in present‐day Kenya] which is used as a daybed […]. One mat from Borneo with a lion‐colour velvet border […]. One painted mat from Sindh. One white mat from Bengal […]. One white mat from Bengal with holes […]. Three used mats from Ceylon […]. One square Indian carpet [165 cm] with a black field and red border […]. One square Indian carpet [165 cm] with a blue border […]. One Indian carpet [214.5 x 132 cm] with a white border and a central red medallion on a multi‐coloured field […]. One Indian carpet [219.9 x 132 cm] with a green central medallion on a red field with yellow border and white fringes […]. One carpet [478 x 219 cm] from Yazd [i.e. in present‐day Iran] with a red field filled with animals of many colours and yellow silk guard stripes […]. One carpet from Yazd [231 x 165 cm] with a green central medallion on a red field and red silk guard stripes […]. One carpet [693 x 264 cm] from Khorasan [i.e. in present‐day Iran] with a dark blue central medallion on a red field with a white border and blue fringes […]. One carpet [627 x 330 cm] from Cambay [Khambhat, in Gujarat, India] with a multi‐coloured field and white border […]. Another similar carpet [627 x 330 cm] from Cambay […]. One used carpet from Cambay [264 x 165 cm] with a blue central medallion and a white border […]. Two similar carpets from Cambay [264 x 165 cm] […]. One coverlet from India, red on one side and the other of changeable taffeta […]. One white coverlet of Indian cloth, quilted and padded with cord, lined with Indian cloth, and set with trimmings and tassels around […]. One small and old coverlet of Indian cloth […]. One old, medium size coverlet of Indian cloth […]. One bed canopy with its two hangings from Bengal, with its fringes and with Bengali embroidery […]. One smaller, matching bed canopy from Bengal […]. One other bed canopy from Bengal without fringes […]. One plain, fringed bed canopy of Indian cloth without hangings […]. Four pieces of Indian cloth called ramotim […]. Two pieces of Indian cotton cloth called caniquins and one chautar […]. Four Indian coifs, two with gold and silk needlework, and two of silk […]. Two table pads from Bengal which are left unfinished […]. Two Indian window hangings with embroidery from Bengal […]. One pillowcase of Indian cloth with red needlework, set with two matching small pillows […]. One bolster of Indian cloth with blue needlework set with matching small pillows […]. Four towels of Indian cloth with multicoloured needlework […]. One piece of cloth from Bengal called bambollim with red stripes […]. Two old oratory hangings from India […]. Two women collars from Bengal with chain stitch embroidery […]. Two sleeves of Indian cloth and one gorget of Holland cloth with blue needlework […]. Three narrow, plain window hangings of Indian cloth […]. Two bolster cases of Indian cloth with Bengali embroidery set with four matching small pillows […]. Two Moorish‐style smocks […]. One closed Moorish‐style smock with Bengali embroidery, set with its buttons […]. One scarf of Indian cloth with Bengali embroidery with its buttons on the front […]. One petticoat of Indian cloth with Bengali embroidery on the front and rim with its buttons […]. One piece of quilted fabric from India […]. One bed valance of green damask from India lined with old changeable taffeta […]. A piece of benzoin resin [from Styrax tonkinensis] […]. One round box of golden tortoiseshell with silver lock and hinges […]. One black round box from China […]. One old Chinese casket painted in red and gold […]. Five pairs of perfumed gloves […]. One broken casket from China […]. Two liturgical vestments of brocade cloth from India with its albs and everything needed to say mass […]. A lectern from China and an old, used missal […]. One towel of Indian cloth embroidered in coloured silk […]. One bed canopy from India with red needlework from Cambay […]. Two porcelain cruets […]. One hundred and twenty pieces of porcelain for eating [i.e. probably dishes of medium size] […]. Forty large [porcelain] dishes […]. Twenty large [porcelain] plates […]. Twenty‐six very large [porcelain] plates […]. Three [porcelain] couscoussiers [i.e. probably tight‐fitting covered bowls] […]. Eight small [porcelain] bowls […]. Six small [porcelain] cups and two small saucers […]. One [porcelain] basin, for washing before meals, gilded from China […]. Four [porcelain] jars with damaged rims […]. Twenty [porcelain] bottles […]. One Indian slave called António who is fifty years old and washes clothes […]. One black slave called Maria who from her looks is more or less twenty‐five years old […]. One other black slave [from the] Fula called Maria with two daughters, one called Angela who is three to four years old, and the other called Paula who is one and a half years old […]. Two large martaban jars, one wrapped in rattan, used for storing olive oil […]. Two other smaller Indian jars wrapped in rattan used for storing olive oil […]. One Chinese slave called Jorge […]. One other Chinese slave called Manuel […]. Another Chinese slave called Luís […]. One other slave called António Lopes [who is a] tailor […]. One knife set [leque] from Japan set with gold in its hilt, guards and finial, with its knife and pricker, all set in gold partially enamelled in colours […]. One other leque from Japan with its sheath covered in shark hide set with gold, with its knife and pricker […]. Seven flags and one banner of Indian very old bertangil cloth […]. One Indian daybed, of the two recorded in this inventory […]. Two Chinese round shields with new arm supports […]. Three round shields from India, painted and old […]. One small spear from India […]. One black slave from Cape Verde, bearded man called Pedro who is thirty‐five years old […]. One cape made from quilted fabric from Chaul lined with bertangil