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MATER DOLOROSA, COMPLETED |
This Mater Dolorosa, made of antique ivory parts, is without
doubt, my favorite because of its personal meaning to me. I was drawn to the
Sorrowful Mother at the time my father was battling a fatal disease in 1998. When
he passed away, I made a vow to acquire a Dolorosa image to be processed in our town during
the Holy Week, in gratitude for his painless, peaceful transition. I managed to find a vintage processional
Dolorosa shortly after, and began a family tradition of participating in the
annual Semana Santa prusisyons of our town.
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ALL WE HAD WAS AN IVORY HEAD... |
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...AS THE RESTORATION BEGAN. |
I also wanted a version that we could venerate at home,
perhaps an antique ivory piece, but by the early 2000s, complete, tabletop
ivory images were becoming scarcer, and therefore pricier. I started searching
for sacred images online—it was something novel at that time—so I was surprised
to find an ebay Philippines site that had a few sellers of old items and
collectibles.
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ANTIQUE HANDS WERE SERENDIPITOUS FINDS. |
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THE HEAD ACQUIRED A CARVED TORSO |
It was there that I met a local dealer, who turned out to be
the brother of an officemate!. When I asked him offline to be on the lookout
for an ivory Dolorosa, he sent a private
message to tell me, that he in fact has a solid ivory Dolorosa head. When I got
hold of the picture, I was stunned, because it was an antique ivory head some
three inches long, exquisitely carved, with open mouth, complete with glass eyes, complete with tiny crystla teardrop. It was of very
high quality ivory, creamy white in color, without cracks and flaws.
Unfortunately, that was all that he had—the clasped hands are missing, and so
is the body, the base (peana), and accessories, right down to lost vestments,
metal accessories and wig.
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ALL-NEW METAL AUREOLA |
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THE DOLOROSA ON HER PEANA |
I just could not pass up this ivory head, so I got it and
kept it in a velvet pouch for a year or so, before I finally took it to my
restorer, Dr. Raffy Lopez. One look, and he confirmed that I, indeed, made a
good decision as the ivory was excellent in all aspects. His only problem were
the missing pair of ivory hands, as it’s almost impossible to find old parts of
appropriate size. I had no choice but to settle for new replacement ivory hands.
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FINELY CARVED FACE REVEALS HER GRIEF |
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SALVAGED EMBROIDERY ON HER VESTMENT |
So I left the Dolorosa head with Dr. Lopez, not even
bothering to ask for a timeline, as I don’t have one too. But two weeks later,
he was on the phone again, sharing me about his excitement of finding a a pair
of ivory hands—clasped hands—perfectly fitting the size of my Dolorosa. I can’t
ask for better news!
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DETAIL OF THE FLORAL EMBROIDERY |
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BACK VIEW OF THE CAPE |
With my full trust in Dr. Lopez, I just left him to his own
devices—although he would contact me once in a while to confer about my
personal choices—do I like her in pure black or maroon and blue? Do I prefer a
floral peaña? He suggested to do away with the wig as she will be wearing a
wimple, anyway. And he also recommended satin fabrics.
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THE COMPLETED IMAGE IS 22 INCHES TALL |
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MATER DOLOROSA, IN HER URNA |
While Dr. Lopez was restoring and completing the Dolorosa, I
was also briefing a local carver for a customized urna in which to house my
Dolorosa. Based on the completed height of the image (about 22 inches tall), I commissioned a Betis
artisan to copy a wooden urna and its design, I found in an online antique
site. He had to do it twice—because the first one he did was box shaped; I
wanted the front to have 3 panels of glass, which will make it trapezoidal.
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MATER DOLOROSA, IN HER URNA. |
After three months, the antique Dolorosa head had a bastidor
body, jointed arms, fully embroidered vestments, and a peana with calado design. It was now a complete image,
standing 22 inches tall, beautifully dressed on her gilded base. Inside her
carved urna, the Dolorosa reposes, still sad but stunning. Only her new
caretaker is sorrowful no more.
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