Simón Bolívar’s Silver Spur
Early 19th Century

Worn by Simón Bolívar, this silver spur offers a direct connection to the military leader whose campaigns helped secure independence from Spanish rule across six present-day Latin American nations. Known as “The Liberator,” Bolívar gave the spur to José Antonio Páez, one of his foremost cavalry commanders and a future president of Venezuela.

The spur’s subsequent history is recorded in an engraving commissioned by Páez circa 1870. While living in New York near the end of his life, Páez presented it to Royal Phelps, an American businessman with deep ties to Venezuela. The inscription commemorates this gift and preserves the spur’s association with both Bolívar and Páez.

Born in Caracas in 1783, Bolívar became a central political and military force in the liberation of present-day Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Panama. His leadership helped transform the political map of the Americas, and his name survives in both Bolivia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

On base: 8 1/2" high x 8 1/2" wide x 5 3/8" deep

Provenance:
Simón Bolívar
José Antonio Páez, gift from the above
Royal Phelps, gift from the above
Private collection, France
Private collection, France
M.S. Rau, New Orleans