The Museum of the Coastal Bend at Victoria College presents NUEVA ESPAÑA, an exhibition of Spanish Colonial artifacts that opens to the public on Friday, Jan. 20. Included in the exhibit is an outstanding private collection of artifacts on loan from James Woodrick, a private collector and past Victoria resident.

The Viceroyalty of Nueva España (New Spain) was established in 1521 following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. At its greatest extent in 1795, New Spain included present-day Texas in its holdings as well as much of the United States west of the Mississippi River and the Floridas. The compelling story of Spain’s early attempts to establish a presence in the untamed, unforgivingly harsh, yet incredibly beautiful coastal plains of Texas are told through these new exhibits.

Viewers will see personal items from the Spanish explorers such as a copper chocolate pot, cookware, religious medallions and pendants, rings and jewelry, thimbles, ficas, horse tack, sword blades, iron tools and lead seals. Artifacts dating back to 1722 were excavated from the Victoria County locations of Mission Espiritu Santo and Presidio la Bahia.

The museum’s exhibit of the James Woodrick Collection of Spanish Colonial artifacts is the first public viewing of this important collection. Also featured are artifacts donated to MCB by private collectors and drawings by John Jarratt, a self-trained archeologist who, as early as 1930, laid the groundwork for several major Spanish colonial site studies in Victoria.

A number of Spanish Colonial artifacts have been replicated in sterling silver as medallions and pendants and are available for purchase in the museum’s store.

NUEVA ESPAÑA is offered at the Museum of the Coastal Bend in conjunction with the museum’s core exhibits of early Coastal Bend history and heritage.

The Museum of the Coastal Bend is located on the campus of Victoria College at the corner of East Red River and Ben Jordan.

www.museumofthecoastalbend.org