365. SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR: When Vintage is Valuable

When I saw this 32 in. image of San Isidro Labrador on FB Marketplace, I thought it was an antique, crafted to perfection by an artist who seemed familiar with Spanish-style carving and religious iconography.That was until more close-up photos were shared, and I saw the still-sharp cuts and edges which bore tell-tale signs that the figure was not one. There certainly were attempts to make it look old like the effects of paint loss, missing hands, and attributes like the shovel or the sickle—symbols of the saint's work. One foot was also broken.

As the santo was advertised on FB marketplace

To soften and smoothen the look, traces of white talcum powder can be still seen in the crevices, mimicking dried layers of old gesso. Probably, which was why it remained unsold for days, ignored by true-blue antique collectors.

But age to me, while important, is not always the reason why I am attracted to newer santos of this kind. It's the excellent execution of this San Isidro that got me—presented alone on a base—without the plowing angel and the kneeling Don Vargas that one often sees on tableaus. Seldom do you see vintage santos of impeccable quality such as this one. 

This, surely was a product of a learned carver who knew his stuff well—from the way he accurately posed the saint with one hand on his chest,  while holding, on the other hand,  an iconographic  farm implement, now missing.

His carved costume depicts the common outfits of peasants in old Castile: a tunic with buttons that adjusted it to the chest, short breeches, high boots (or leggings) close to the knee, and a jacket collar, sometimes decorated with a frill.

The artist paid great attention to the minute detail--from the delineation of the saint’s hair, the creases on his forehead and sallow cheeks, to his windswept hair and tunic, and the folds of his boots.

I contacted the seller and made a few inquiries; he told me the San Isidro came from Samar, and that it was carved from 2 separate woods—the base being made of santol. He asked me what my plans were—will I restore it? Repaint it? He said it looked good as is. I said I don’t know yet. I made an offer, he made a counter offer, and the deal was sealed.

In a day and a half, the San Isidro arrived at the courier’s office for me to pick up. I wasn't prepares for its weight--it was very heavy, I had to drag the huge box to my car. When I opened the box back home, there it was---San Isidro Labrador---it was exactly how I imagined it to be---except for its denseness and extreme weight ( close to 10 pounds on a bathroom scale). I was later told it was ironwood (local name, mangkono).

I was in for another surprise  when a separate bubble wrap revealed  his pair of hands—they were not missing after all. That, along with a broken fragment from one boot. The holes at the bottom of his feet were outfitted with short metal tubes, to provide extra support when the image was attached by pegs on the base. That rather new feature proved that San Isidro may have been made in just the last 2 years or so, new by antique collectors' standards.

I decided to make a replacement for his lost farm implement. Using found objects at home, I created San Isidro’s long-handled shovel from a rattan stick, whittled down to the right circumference, to create a pole handle.  A rusty, mini-hand spade provided the metal spade, while its wooden handle  was joined to the tip of the stick to serve as a handle grip. A metal strip cut from an old liquor cap was ringed around the joined parts. The long-handled shovel was distressed and aged by rolling it over the stove flame, then brushed with mahogany stain.

The santo was not without flaws, with many nicks and dings, plus the usual cracks, so I had to fix these with a variety of  fillers--plastic wood for the cracks, and epoxy clay to fill in bigger gaps. 

One arm and left leg of San Isidro were a bit wobbly so I had to detach them to see the problem.  It turned out that the dowels or pegs used to connect arms to the body and the feet to the base have come apart. When all the parts have been secured properly, I found out one peg would no longer fit into the hole on the base; the position of one foot had moved a bit in the  regluing process. I had to open up the hole and dig in a bit deeper to fix my mistake.

The whole ensemble was then polished with bees wax which evened out and darkened its color to a deep brown-black and gave it a rich mellow sheen. Though a vintage piece, San Isidro appears much better now--looking more venerable, and more valuable than ever! 

Many thanks to Mr. Jay Consunji Capistrano for this beautiful piece, and for the use of his FB Marketplace photos.

364. Lump in My Throat: SAN BLAS in Ivory

SAN BLAS (St. Blaise), the bishop-martyr of Sebaste, in Armenia, is not familiar to many Filipinos, except perhaps in Sebaste (yes, namesake of the bishop’s episcopal see!), Antique, or in Bangar, La Union and Villasis, Pangasinan, two municipalities with barangays named ‘San Blas’.

Apparently, in Pampanga, a prominent family from Guagua are devotees of San Blas, as they keep an exquisite ivory figure of the saint invoked against throat diseases, that has afflicted some members in their clan.

This ivory santo belonged to a couple who ran a successful popular and successful meryendahan in the town. They often lent their image unselfishly to people in the community with various throat issues, who, after touching the revered image, crossed themselves on the neck as they pray for relief.

According to a legend , San Blas saved a boy who had a fish bone stuck in his throat-- just one of the many miracles that he wrought. That led to him being adopted as the Patron Saint of people with throat ailments.

When the childless couple passed away, the image was bequeathed to a niece, an unamarried public school teacher. She cared for the image until she retired and passed away just this year, ahead of her remaining elder sister.  As of yet, the next caretaker of San Blas has not been named.

Typical of many classically carved santos, this San Blas has a manikin body, but has been redressed, his original bishop’s vestments now long gone. His most common iconography includes a mitre (also replaced) and a crozier. Other depictions of him in art includes an iron comb—an instrument of his torture, and a candle, in reference to a candle brought to him in jail. Images of him holding a martyr’s palm are rare.

The feast of San Blas is celebrated every February 3.

 MANY THANKS TO : MR. JERRY PUNZALAN SAGMIT for the information and photos.

363. COMPLETING CULAS: An FB Marketplace Santo Gets Restored

The idea of buying antiques from a Philippine online shop is  unthinkable for many, because assessing their authenticity can be tricky just by looking at photos—you can’t touch a santo, feel its weight, inspect its real condition. You also have to deal with reproductions, dubious fakes, and scammers!

But there are times when nice, genuine santos pop up every now and then on online sites run by reputable sellers, piquing my interest. One such example was this Recoleto SAN NICOLAS DE TOLENTINO wooden figure standing on an ochovado base, found on FB Marketplace.

Recoleto santos are among my favorite collectibles because my “pueblo” was actually evangelized by Recollect saints. Of the 4 provinces of the Recollect Order, one is named as the Province of San Nicolas de Tolentino, created in 1621. Seven friars, led by Fray Andres San Fulgencio first came to the future Mabalacat in 1711, and found a forest settlement inhabited by a community of Aetas, headed by one named Garagan. The saint  also holds a special meaning to me as a Kapampangan since the renown pasalubong biscuit from Pampanga was named after him--“saniculas”. 

The seller sent me more pictures for my perusal, and I was told that it had come from Panay. The 14 inch. San Nicolas reminded me of some Puerto Rican santos where the carving tends to be sharp and angular, with unsmoothed edges and corners, as evidenced by the chiselling of the drapes on the santo’s habit, fingers, sandals, and the 8-sided base.

The Recollect belt clearly identifies the santo, who, a one point must have held his attributes, now missing—a dish on where a dying partridge bird rested which he  miraculously revived upon feeding from his plate. His right had would have held a crucifix garlanded with lilies, to symbolize his purity. This particular hand is an obvious replacement as it was disproportionately bigger than the left.

There are rectangular patches of gold-leafing in his black habit. The painter probably intended to cut and shape these gold patches into stars, which are also his emblems. Legend has it that stars guided him to Tolentino, near his place of birth.

Paint flaking was noted on the base, and the face of the santo. There was a hairline crack running from the waist to the hem of the santo’s habit which has started to open.

After carefully assessing the condition of this folk santo, I decided to complete it by reconstructing its missing elements. But before I could do that, I had to attend to the more pressing concerns:

First, I filled the hairline crack with plastic wood, which was like a wood putty with the consistency of glue, used in repairing flaws on wood. 

Once hardened, the crack was sealed and the filling was painted black. The paint losses on the face and the base were fixed with acrylic paints.

Now, I could go to replacing the missing attributes. First—the missing halo. This was supposed to be the easiest to do, since I keep all sorts of old metal santo accessories, but it turned out the round, brass halos I have are so big.

Then I remembered a pair of round, calado earrings that I wisely bought from a tiangge years before—because they reminded me of santo halos!! So I just added a wire in the center to form an umbrella type of halo, called “paragua”, that I stuck into a ready-made hole on the top of the santo’s head

A plain wooden cross would have been an acceptable replacement for the santo’s missing crucifix. But I found a tiny wooden crucifix  with the metal corpus of Christ and aluminum cantoneras that was actually a remnant of a rosary. I just shaped the end so that it could fit into the grasp of the santo’s hand.

The miniature bird on the platter was more challenging to recontruct. The plate was fashioned from a metal cap (tansan) that I flattened with a hammer. To remove the rubber seal and the brand name ( I used a Red Horse tansan!), I just heated the crown until it looked blackened with age. The “plate” was then pegged on the open left palm of the figure. I ran thru some 5 tansans before I was satisfied with the result.

I have saved the bird for last, because I know this would give me a hard time, To be true to the wooden figure, I attempted to carve a bird, no more than a quarter of an inch long, using balsa wood. But the wood kept on cracking even when I was using an Exacto knife. I gave up after 2 tries.

Then,  I came up with the idea of molding a small bird from plastic wood I used before. I thought it would turn clay-like when it’s drier, but the shape did not hold. Then I tried papier mache, using fine paper pulp from tissue paper and white glue—the result was a sad-looking lump, not a bird.

Finally, I called on a lifeline—a friend and an artist who made miniature dioramas. How could I forget Dodjie Aguinaldo!  So, based on my instructions,  he made me a miniscule quail (pugo) bird, hand-molded from air-dried clay, just 1.5 cm. long. I just painted it after, lacquered it, and set it on top of the tansan plate—a perfect fit!

As a finishing touch, I found an old cast-iron, patinated salvage, once part of a decorative applique for a door, perhaps. I nailed it on the front of the base to make it look remotely like a carroza frontal.

With his completion, SAN NICOLAS DE TOLENTINO, patron of souls in purgatory, has just become my favorite Recollect in my santos grouping which I fondly call my “Re-Collection.”

MANY THANKS TO:

Mr. LOUIE ASINAS, for the smooth, seamless deal on the santo, for your patience in answering my uestions,  and for the photos.

Mr. DODJIE AGUINALDO, for creating the clay bird for this santo