CARTA EXECUTORIA Despacho confirmatorio de los escudos de armas, nobleza, y genealogia a Don Martin Antonio de Olasagasti, Barriola, Zurutuza, y Aranburo, de la villa de Isasondo en Guipuzcoa, y vecino de la ciudad de Veracruz en el Reyno de Mexico, aconsequencia de una real provision de Hidalguia Despachada a su favor en la real chancilleria de valladolid.

A rare certificate of nobility for Martin Antonio de Olasagasti (born in 1759). Native of Isasondo in the Basque Country and citizen of the Mexican city of Veracruz.

Magnificent manuscript on vellum, entirely ruled with a double frame of red triple lines.

It opens with a title page with a red frame enhanced with gold. This is followed by a representation of the coat of arms of Martin Antonio de Olasagasti, also enhanced with gold. Then, a magnificent decorative page in gouache and gold showing the name of the issuer Don Juan Felix de Rujula in the central frame, topped by the seal of King Charles IV of Spain. The lower part of the illustration shows a beautiful lion resting on a blue sphere and adjoining the royal coat of arms of Spain. 

The manuscript is written in black ink, with some inscriptions in red (names and beginning of paragraphs). The names of the persons in the family tree at the end are calligraphed in the text. The titles are inscribed in gold and placed in a decorative blue, pink and gold frame. 15 coloured historiated initials in gold also decorate the text as well as 4 small miniatures of coats of arms in gouache. A fold-out family tree tracing the lineage of Martin Antonio de Olasagasti is bound in the manuscript.

This work details the family history of Martin Antonio de Olasagasti, the genealogical indications are precise and are accompanied by heraldic representations which allow us to understand how the recipient’s coat of arms is composed. As is customary, the coat of arms is made up of the shields and charges of his ancestors. 

On the penultimate sheet is Rujula’s signature with the date 6 August 1805 and his paper-covered seal. On the back and last leaf are four other signatures, including that of the civil servant Vicente Lorenzo Verdugo, with his paper-covered seal, dated 26 August 1805. The signatures of Antonio Lopes de Salazar, Claudio Sanz[o] (?) and Antonio Gomenez (?) also appear. 

The border of the decorative page is slightly rubbed in places, and the silver parts of the large painted coat of arms are a little oxidized, but generally the manuscript if in pristine condition.