360. The Bone Collector: A SANTO ÑINO FIND IN INTRAMUROS

BONE-HEAD SANTO NINO with Wooden Body

There was a time that Intramuros had a small antique shop section, thanks to the development of a heritage district that started in the early 1980s. The district included the restored Casa Manila, a 19^th century house at the Plaza San Luis Complex, along Gen. Luna St. The complex attracted different establishment like restaurants, souvenir shops, arts and antique shops.

The Nino, as found, Galeria Andrea, ca. 1998

One of the popular shops located here was Galeria Andrea, owned by Pampanga congresswoman Andrea Domingo, who would later become Immigration commissioner and PAGCOR chairman. She turned her antique collecting hobby into a modest business in Intramuros, and it was in her shop that I found this small, but lovely Sto. Niño of wood and bone, sometime in 1998.

No more than 10 inches tall, including the base, the santo is depicted in a royal French costume, reminiscent of the outfit worn by King Louis XV. The Sto. Niño of Malolos wears a similarly-inspired outfit. Obviously, the image was repainted in garish white, blue and dark brown. Random painted flourishes decorate his tunic, highlighted by a body chain over the torso.

But what drew me to the santo was the face, which, initially I thought to be ivory as it was so white. It was the only material made of bone—everything else, including the hand holding a small orb (one hand is missing)--were made of wood.

I had to take a second and third look to see if it was really made from bone, but so well done—from the neck folds, define aquiline nose, to the wisp of his smile, and his side-glancing glass eyes—all contributing to its pleasing, amiable expression.

It makes one think that the head deserves a better body, maybe like those manikin-types, reserved for richly-dressed ivory santos. But this Niño has its own distinct appeal, and the wooden body itself is well-carved, and well-proportioned. Note, for example, the careful facial carving, the symmetrical folds of the cape, and the stance of the booted legs, with one knee slightly bent.

The shallow relief carving of the peaña (base) is a bit difficult to figure out; vaguely, I could make out a heart with a cross on top, entwined with thorny vines. The image was meant to wear a wig, and perhaps, a crown. De bulto images with wigs are more common for female saints, making this Niño a scarce find.

Antique bone santos have always played second fiddle to ivory santos, which are more prized and therefore, more expensive. But to me, my bone Sto. Niño find evokes the same feelings of appreciation and nostalgia for our religious folk art as when I see ivory santos--so in that sense, this Niño is just as precious and cherished for keeps!

POSTCRIPT:

MRS. ANDREA DOMINGO opened GALERIA ARTS & ANTIQUES in LRI Plaza, Jupiter St., in Makati , and she kept the business for 26 years. Today, her remaining collection are housed in he home city museum in San Fernando, Pampanga called MUSEUM OF PHILIPPINE ARTS AND CULTURE (MOPAC). One gallery is dedicated to her incredible santo collection:

359. SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR: A Bone to Pick, A Santo to Fix

Some 15 years ago, I was driving in the direction of Lubao when I found a row of stores along the road, and one instantly caught my eye: “PRINCE SECOND HAND-LUMBER and Antique Shop”.  Of course, I had to stop. When I came in, I was met by a young couple, and their little boy, who was carrying an old silver-plated monstrance. I asked if the monstrance was for sale, and the father said, it is, but right now the boy wouldn’t let it go, as he was “playing prusisyon”, walking around the room, holding the monstrance, pretending to be a priest in a procession.

The father said to give him a few minutes while he talk with his son—Prince--who, at that point was adamantly holding tight to the monstrance and would not let it go In the meantime, he said, please feel free to check the other stuff in his warehouse.

Thank God, the big piles of lumber from demolished old houses were separated from the “antique” section of his shop, that included vintage furniture, aparadors, salvaged architectural details and iron grills. I noticed a few religious items there: an escayola Buenviaje in its own urna, a framed communion certificate.

There must be more where they come from, I thought to myself. And sure enough, when I opened a comoda, an inner shelf revealed something extraordinary—a naked santo, with a thin manikin body, outfitted with a solid bone head and hands! 

One look, and I saw a vision of San Isidro Labrador holding a farm implement. The shop owner entered the room at this point, ending my reverie. “Oh, you found the old doll”, he said. I corrected him by saying that the figure is, by all indications, a santo. “Ah, I didn't know it's a santo! That means it will be a little bit more expensive then”, he continued. Me and my big mouth.

When he mentioned the price, well, it wasn’t bad as I imagined it to be! In fact, I could pay for it now! So that’s how I got the bone-faced San Isidro home.

The next work week, straight to the taller of Dr. Raffy Lopez the santo went. The 10 inch high santo, he said, was finished well, considering it was bone, a medium difficult to carve as it is brittle, breaking easily. This does not allow the carver much leeway to carve in finer details, which explains why bone santos do not have well-delineated faces and hands, looking stiffer, more folksy than their ivory counterparts. But this did not diminish at all the charming quality of this piece.

There was a possibility too that the santo was originally a San Jose, as it was found without identifying elements associated with San Isidro, like an ox, kneeling landlord, a plowing angel. But Dr. Lopez was confident he could recreate San Isidro’s likeness using this bone figure, even without those iconographic parts.

The first thing he need to do was to look for a proper base for it, and he found one—a folksy painted mortar base with remnants of green and dull yellow colors. Once he had that, he started his work on the bone santo, a process that took a month.

When, finally, he revealed SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR, the results were dramatic as seen from these photos. Only the lips needed to be defined, as the bone head still had its original glass eyes and painted beard. A new jusi wig and an old halo from the doctor’s collection topped the head of the santo.

The deep yellow satin cape and the knee-length drab green tunic complemented the colors of the base, which raised the santo’s height to about 16 inches tall. The gold embroidery was limited to the hems of the cape and the lower part of the tunic, fitting for a male saint.

The restores San Isidro sports knee high, leather boots, fashioned from soft imitation leather scraps. His left hand clutches a new, long-handled shover made of wood and tin. As the santo was tall and narrow. I had a customized glass case made for him, similar to Japan-made glass doll cases.

I only have 5 bone santos in my collection, and this restored San Isidro is one of the more special ones because of the story of its discovery, finding it by mere happenstance. 

Oh, and the silver monstrance? I got that too, the next day, pried off from the hands of Prince by his father, while he lay sleeping. I wonder what happened when he woke up. He should be about 18 years old now—is he pursuing a priestly vocation? I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

358. DIE PHILIPPINEN, Perle im östlichen Meer: SANTO PAGES

PROCESSIONAL MATER DOLOROSA IN IVORY

DIE PHILIPPINEN, Perle im östlichen Meer (THE PHILIPPINES, Pearl of the Orient Seas) is a German-language book, published by Lipp in 1985, with contributions from the Staattliches Museum fur Volkerkunde Munchen. A whole chapter was devoted to Spanish colonial religious art of the Philippines , and these photos are from the book.

SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR

SAN JOSE

SAN JOSE, INMACULADA CONCEPCION
from Bohol

SANTO NINO

SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL, icon painting

AN ALTAR OF SANTOS

IVORY MADONNA

IVORY HEAD OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

MADONNA AND CHILD,  with an intricately
carved gown and base.

NTRA. SRA. DE SALVACION

TRYPTICH ICON OF SAN VICENTE FERRER,
SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR AND STO. NINO

TWO SANTOS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

A PAIR OF FOLK MARYS

A PAIR OF FOLK MARYS

SAN ROQUE, WITH MISSING ANGEL

LA PIEDAD

CRUCIFIED CHRIST

BOHOL VIRGIN IN A POLYCHROMED URNA

THE BOOK: DIE PHILIPPINEN. PERLE IM OSTLICHEN MEER

 

357. THE SANTO COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF PHILIPPINE ARTS AND CULTURE, San Fernando, Pampanga

Museum of Philippine Art and Culture, San Fernando

An invitation from Mrs. ANDREA DIZON DOMINGO to the launch of her foundation’s MUSEUM OF PHILIPINE ARTS AND CULTURE, was an event certainly not to be missed by the staff of the Center for Kapampangan Studies, and that included me. Though many remember her of late, as the Chairman and CEO of PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation), she was also at some point,  a commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration and a Pampanga congresswoman.

A cabinet-ful of antique santos

But I remember Mrs. Domingo as an owner of a well-know antique shop in Intramuros—GALERIA ANDREA—and who later put up a swanky branch at the LRI Plaza in Makati. I was a habitue of her antique shop that was always full to the rafters with antique santos, exquisite colonial jewelry, paintings, blue and white jars, and pottery diggings—all tastefully displayed under glass or organized on shelves and walls. 

Ivory Sto. Nino flanked by San Jose and Sta. Maria

I only have one santo purchase to show after all my frequent visits to her shops— an armless Santo Niño with a bone face on a globe base. I was content with browsing at her shops as she had probably one of the most select antique pieces in Intramuros. So, when I learned that she was opening a museum, I had no doubt that it will be nothing less than the best—I had already in my mind the quality and diversity of pieces she will be showcasing.

An ivory Calvario scene.

I had expected a small museum in a San Fernando subdivision, but I was floored when I saw it was in a huge 2-story building with expansive spaces. She explained that the building was a re-purposed ballroom dance hall that she had built at a time when she took up the hobby, and wanted a venue for other dance enthusiasts.

A folk Virgen and Sto. Nino in a box urna

Entering the well-lit, cavernous hall were walls and walls of paintings from past and present masters, presidential merit winners, Mabini painters,  and National Artists, a virtual who’s who in Philippine art history. Outside of Manila, this museum has perhaps the largest assemblage of paintings done by National Artists—works of Amorsolo, Ang Kiukok, Botong Francisco, hang side by side with the paintings of Magsaysay-Ho,  Edades, Joya, and Legaspi. 

A cabinetful of antique santos

In another wing, the rooms displayed pre-colonial artifacts like bul-ols, oriental trade jars, potteries from various diggings, tribal art and textiles. 

More santos on display.

But of course, the one room that piqued my interest most was the santo collection in a wing of its own. The most precious ones—including the valuable ivories, were shown in well-lit floor to ceiling glass cabinets. The amazing exhibit featured mostly folk santos, many left overs from her antique shops, but still of impeccable quality no less. The antique santo collection is featured in these photos.

L-R: Ivory San Juan Bautista, and a pair of wooden San Roques

The MUSEUM OF PHILIPPINE ART AND CULTURE is set to open fully in July. It is located along the highway of San Fernando, brgy. San Agustin, next to Ramar Village, and across St.  Scholastica Academy. 

A gathering of Virgins and Sto. Ninos

A Sto. Nino among Virgenes

Ivory santos of the most precious variety

More ivories for the eyes to feast on.

The Ivory Section of the exhibit

Folk antiquities

Of wood and ivory.

A trio of charming Sto. Ninos

Inmaculada Concepcion

A wide-eyed San Pedro

Sagrada Familia in ivory

Inmaculada Concepcion

San Miguel Arcangel

A Bohol Sto. Nino and matching urna

Virgen del Rosario