In the Municipal Ordinances of Toledo of the year 1494, some laws relating to silversmiths appeared; they are, however, uninteresting. The same thing occurs with the Ordinances of Seville, which were re-compiled in 1526. The guild of silversmiths of Toledo must have been most important, for in 1423 they already formed a brotherhood or guild under the protection of St. Eloy, in which they agreed to help the members of the guild in every way. See "Documentos Ineditos," published by Zarco del Valle, p. 166. The Ordinances of Granada enter more into details concerning the technical proceedings of silversmith's work. These Ordinances appeared in 1538; the work in the Moorish style is described in full detail; it appears to have been preserved in this locality more than elsewhere. We can judge of the enormous quantities of objects which were made by those still to be seen in Spanish cathedrals and churches, having survived the French invasion of the present century. For full details of the barbarous treatment of these works of art during the French invasion, see Ford's "Handbook of Spain." The expropriations of the Spanish government during the civil wars of 1833 to 1840, and the injudicious law of expropriations of 1869 for the purpose of collecting artistic objects, have brought about the destruction and disappearance of numberless works of art in order not to give them up to the government. The same splendour and abundance of silver objects of every kind existed in the royal palaces and houses of the grandees. Madame d'Aunoy in her "Voyage en Espagne, Lyon, 1643," p. 109, says: "L'on ne se sert point de vaisselle d'étain, celle d'argent ou de terre sont les seules qui soient en usage. Le duc d'Alburquerque est mort, il y a déjà quelque tems; l'on m'a dit que l'on avoit employé six semaines à écrire sa vaisselle d'or et d'argent. Il y avoit 1400 douzaines d'assiettes, 500 grands plats, et 700 petits, tout le reste à proportion, et 40 échelles d'argent pour monter au haut de son buffet, qui étoit par gradins comme un autel placé dans une grande salle." The splendid silver table belonging to the Marquis of Villaseca at Madrid gives a good idea of the furniture of this time. In the Inventories, a great number of which exist, we find numerous details of silver objects of every kind. In one which was drawn up in 1574, of the effects of Princess Da Juana (MS. folio, Acad. de la Historia), the sister of Philip II., we find mention, without counting the jewels, of a silver balustrade, weighing 121 pounds, to be placed round the bed. The greater part of the kitchen utensils were also made of silver. Among the most important objects of Spanish silversmith work are undoubtedly, as I have said before, the custodias.