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.

355. A Penitent Redeemed: STA. MARIA MAGDALENA

STA, MARIA MAGDALENA, RESTORED 2005

The circumstance of how this beautiful Sta. Maria Magdalena image was delivered to me was one for the books. I had been working with a Bulacan dealer for sometime, when he called to say that there was an antique santa in the market available, but I had to decide fast whether to get it or not. To make my decision faster, he offered to bring it to me in Makati, where I lived and worked.

MAGDALENA, in its original state, when acquired

Intrigued, I told him to pass by for me by lunchtime, hitch with him in his van, go home together to my nearby studio where I can better check out the santa. Some 2 hours later, he was on his cellphone to tell me of his arrival at my office building. I hastily rushed down the elevator from my 23^rd floor office, got out of the main door---and there, seated at the groundfloor Starbucks Café was my dealer, next to an old, naked, wigless santa, and which has started to attract the stares of the café patrons, building tenants, businessmen, visitors, and passersby! In a loud voice, he said: “Eto na ang Magdalena mo, boss…what do you think?”

MAGDALENA, with a wan and white complexion.

“I think you need to put back the santa in your van NOW!”, I  muttered under my breath, while turning red with embarrassment. Just as a crowd had begun to gather around the santa, the dealer grabbed the wooden figure, stowed it in the van, and sped away with me to my place, just 5 minutes away.

MAGDALENA'S HEAD, before and after re-encarnacion

I’ve never been so stressed at the thought of the commotion we caused at that café. But all that dissipated when, in the privacy of the closed van, I took a closer look at the penitent saint.

STA. MARIA MAGDALENA, under restoration

Even in its state—paint gone pale and peeling, a vertical crack running down the body, shaky base, plus the usual dings, nicks and scratches—this Sta. Magdalena was a real beauty, with a long face face slightly frowning in restrained grief. Her mouth was slightly open, curled downward in sorrow, showing teeth. The slightly long neck featured 3 shallowly-carved neck folds that almost looked like a 3-strand necklace.

STA. MAGDALENA, under restoration

On the other hand, her ghostly white hands and slender fingers, and her bare feet were well-carved and defined. There was the slightest hint of plumpness in her body, characteristic of old female santas. This processional image was not exactly tall, only 52 inches, including the base.

REPAINTING THE PENITENT SAINT

The dealer and I struck a deal, wrote him a check, and Sta. Maria Magdalena was mine to keep. But it didn’t stay long with me either, for just a scant week after, I delivered the Magdalena to the atelier of Mr. Francisco “Kiko” Vecin, Makati’s eminent collector and santo restorer. His workshop was just across my street, near the Makati City Hall, and the schedule for its restoration was drawn up in no time at all.

THE SAINT AND HER BLONDE-BROWN LONG LOCKS

As the santa was complete, I thought restoring it would be a breeze. Other than the crack on the body,  no major repairs were really necessary. What took long was the repainting of the santa that took some 3 months to finish. A friend of mine suggested that I stick to the original paleface kind of encarna, commonly seen in old Semana Santa images. I opted for a more natural complexion that is more Filipino, rather than the fair, pinkish Caucasian type.

STA. MAGDALENA, CROWNED

Mang Kiko commissioned veteran encarnador Eddie Mabaquiao Sr. to handle the repainting, which took forever to do. But the wait was all worth it, as the santa’s expression came real and alive with his brush. The magnifical restoration of Sta. Maria Magdalena was completed in late 2005.

VESTMENT BY LOPEZ ATELIER

Even long before it was finished, a member of our local pastoral council had saved a place for me 2006 Holy Week procession. The reservation, however, was not for a Magdalena, as the town already had one—but for broom-wielding Sta. Maria Jacobe. The idea was to transform this Magdalena into a Jacobe, by having her hold a broom—which was very much possible with the grasping position of her fingers.

OLD EMBROIDERY RECOVERED AND
USED FOR MAGDALENA'S VETSMENT

This threw me into panic, as I had not really planned on having vestments and metal accessories made just yet. Dr. Raffy Lopez came to the rescue by quickly making a light blue half-cape and a matching light fuschia tunic decorated with old gold embroidery. I designed a pukpok broom handle executed in plated brass by Jeric Canlas, inserted with tambo reeds. A new brass crown that I had been keeping went to the head of the santa, which looked obviously bigger. With that the primera salida of this Sta. Maria Magdalena finally took place in 2006—in the guise of  Sta. Maria Jacobe! I soon had ambivalent feelings about that practice.

PRIMERA SALIDA, as Sta, Maria Jacobe, 2006

That was the first and last time this antique santa came out, eventually replaced by my in-law family’s antique Jacobe. But when a second Magdalena I owned suffered a similar fate, I have vowed not to allow these “conversions” to happen again.

In one corner of our covered porch today stands a glass case, in which the cloth-covered antique image of Sta. Maria Magdalena reposes. It has not been seen since 2006, and I intend to keep it that way. It is very much in keeping with a penitent saint who spent part of her life as a hermit in a cave on a desert—away from prying eyes. Her life continues to give us an example of how no person is beyond the saving grace of God, so—by the same token, no broken santo  should be left unsaved too.

STA. MARIA MAGDALENA, Castro Family

350. Winging his way from ebay to my altar: SAN VICENTE FERRER

The popular online bidding site, ebay, is very strict with the sale of ivory  on its site, and since 1990, you can no longer engage in the international trade or sale of new ivory. The sale of ivory items made before 1947 can be freely bought and sold, though importers and exporters need a permit. 

But even with these rules, ebay buyers tend to pass up on antique ivory santos, after considering all other factors, not to mention, risks. That was why, when I saw a Manila-based seller offering a few antique ivory pieces on ebay, I was rather skeptical if they would sell at all. True enough, they didn’t. 

One of the antique ivories that piqued my interest was a stunning 11 inch, San  Vicente Ferrer figure, with head and hands of ivory. It was fitted on a manikin body, and dressed in its original Dominican vestments, complete with a capuce (habit hood), in traditional black--which has faded to blue—and white. 

The habit is lightly embroidered with gold thread, and the short shoulder hood features a 6 pointed star-shaped flower repeated on the white tunic.

The 19^th century ivory santo, as described in the original post, once belonged to a Catholic faithful who converted and became a born-again Christian, a religion which discourage the use of religious icons as objects of veneration. The antique ivory even bears a stamp of certification from the government that confirms its antiquity, which qualifies it for international sale.

San Vicente Ferrer is commonly depicted as a pudgy friar, with one hand pointing heavenward, with the other hand holding a book, to allude to his being a charismatic preacher. This santo, however, has an open palm in benediction. His right hand holds a tiny ‘leather-bound’ book, a nice detail, if I may add.

Missing was his pair of metal angel wings (San Vicente was considered as an angel), a halo and a globe base, in reference to his mission “to preach unto them that sit upon the earth, and over every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people".

With the fine antique ivory unsold, I lost no time in contacting the dealer whom I knew all along—and concluded the sale online.

This San Vicente was one of my earliest ivory pieces that was worked on in 2001 by renown ivory restorer, Dr. Raffy Lopez. The first thing he did was to remove the gold embroidery from the fraying cloth, then transferring them on new satin. Using the old habit pattern, he replicated the distinctive vestment of the Dominican saint.

He had a pair of  brass wings plated in gold made, using an old pattern, and opted to have a “paragua” halo, to avoid punching holes on the santo’s outfit and body.

Finally, he had an appropriate  wooden globe base made, elevating the santo to a height of 15 inches. San Vicente Ferrer may be one of the most common santos that one can find in antique shops, but this ivory version remains special to me, not only because it was one of the very first ivory pieces that I got to own, but also because of the of the circumstances of how I acquired it—not from an antique shop, a collector, or a ‘runner’, mind you—but from the comfort of my own home-- online, in front of my computer!

348. Sorrowful No More: AN ANTIQUE MATER DOLOROSA, REMADE.

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. 

ALL WE HAD WAS AN IVORY HEAD...

...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. 

ANTIQUE HANDS WERE SERENDIPITOUS FINDS.

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. 

ALL-NEW METAL AUREOLA

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.

FINELY CARVED FACE REVEALS HER GRIEF

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! 

DETAIL OF THE FLORAL EMBROIDERY

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. 

THE COMPLETED IMAGE IS 22 INCHES TALL

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.

 

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.