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 establishments 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:

328. THE SANTOS OF SAN AGUSTIN CHURCH, Intramuros

A TRIO OF ANTIQUE SAN ROQUE IN A RETABLO FRAGMENT

One of the grandest churches in the Philippines is also one of the most visited in Manila—the San Agustin Church,  founded by the pioneering Augustinian order and the third structure built on the site. It was completed in 1607, based on the design of Juan Macias, and originally named Iglesia de San Pablo. Over the years, the colonial church suffered from the Bristish sack of Manila in 1762, and a series of destructive earthquakes that toppled one tower in 1880. It was turned into a concentration camp during the 2^nd World War by the Japanese and sustained major damages, leaving the monastery in ruins. It was rebuilt after the war and the monastery was restored as a museum in the 1970s, which houses some of the most incredible ecclesiastical artifacts. The museum grounds are regularly utilized for exhibits of religious art, including the anique santo collection of noted collector Don Gregorio Araneta. 

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SAN AGUSTIN

INMACULADA CONCEPCION

SAN AGUSTIN

ST. PETER, a copy of the bronze statue in the Vatican

ECCE HOMO, from Cebu, on exhibit

STO. TOMAS DE VILLANUEVA

SAN JUAN DE SAHAGUN

STA. MONICA

NTRS. SRA. DE LA CONSOLACION Y CORREA

STA, RITA DE CASCIA

STO. SEPULCRO

SAN JOSE Y NINO JESUS

CALVARIO

VIRGEN DELA CORREA PAINTING

SAN AGUSTIN

SAN ESTEBAN MARTIR

JESUS CARRIES THE CROSS, ICON

SAN AGUSTIN

CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST AT CALVARY

SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL

STA. MONICA

CRUCIFICIXION OF CHRIST

274. THE SANTO SEPULCRO OF PACO IN ART

 STO. SEPULCRO DE PACO, ANTIQUE PRINT, 1814

 Paco was an old arrabal or district of Manila that used to be called “dilao” (yellow), from the color of turmeric, that used to grow in the area. It became San Fernando de Dilao after its Franciscan foudners, and was expanded to include Santiago, Peña de Francia and Dilao. It is also the site of a famous church built from 1809-1814 by Fray Bernardo de la Concepcion in honor of Nuestro Señor Padre de Sto. Sepulcro, also known as Señor de Paco.

PHOTO SOURCE:lasagradaexpedicion.weebly.com, Kendrick Dominic Yu.

 The ancient image represents the dead Christ in repose, and—like the revered Nazareno in Quipao Church-- has become the center of a long-standing tradition began centuries ago by its devotees who believe it to be endowed with miraculous powers.

PHOTO SOURCE: la sagradaexpedicion.weebly.com, Kendrick Dominic Yu.

 The Santo Sepulcro, housed in its magnificent calandra or an elaborately carved wood and glass casket, and is taken out during its feast day in the month of August for a procession. The calandra with the Señor is borne on the shoulders of chosen male devotees, but unlike the rowdy Quiapo procession, the Christ bearers march in cadence, in a more solemn, orderly manner.

 The age-old image has also become the inspiration of a few artworks featured on this spread:

ANTIQUE PRINT, STO. SEPULCRO DE DILAO, 1814

 This antique black and white print, found in a house in Sta. Rita, Pampanga many years back seem to be the oldest print of the Santo Sepulcro of Paco. The dead Christ is in his grand calandra, flanked by Nicodemus and San Jose de Arimatea, two personages who helped in the interment of Christ after the crucifixion in Calvary. The inscription promises special indulgences to those who pray before the image of the Señor, and bears the date 1814, under the term of Archbishop Juan Antonio Zulaibar.

STO. SEPULCRO DE DILAO, Antique painting on tin. 8 X 10".

 This rare and small painting of the Santo Sepulcro was obviously copied from the old print, minus Nicodemus and Jose Arimatea. It is a painting on tin, very similar to Mexican retablos. 

STO. SEPULCRO TIN PAINTING. Personal Collection.

Only 8” x 10”, the tin painting retains its original colors although its two corners have been trimmed. It was purchased from an antique dealer at the Philcite antique pavilions way back in the late 1980s.

STO. SEPUCLRO IVORY MASK FIGURE. Source: Images of Faith, by
Regalado Trota Jose. Cas Manila, Intramuros Collection

 A 19th century Santo Sepulcro with a 7 cm. ivory mask outfitted on a wooden body. The figure is encased in awood and glass calandra. Although it is not specifically identified as a representation of the Paco Christ, it was displayed at the piece Casa Manila in Intramuros along with a Santo Sepulcro embroidered art.

DETAIL OF THE STO, SEPULCRO, Embroidered art. 1817.

 Another unusual Santo Sepulcro depicting the dead Christ of Dilao was once on exhibit at Casa Manila in Intramuros. It is an exquisite example of monastic art, showing the dead Christ, with a face of ivory mounted on fabric, with all the other details painstakingly embroidered with gold thread.

STO. SEPULCRO OF PACO, Embroidered art, formerly exhibited at Casa
Manila, Intramuros.

Again, the old 1814 print seems to have been the basis of this very rare piece which is dated 1817. The artwork is double framed—first with a rectangular frame trimmed with silver panels with beaten rococo design, then encased in an octagonal frame.

MANY THANKS TO KENDRICK DOMINIC T. YU, 
whose 2 photos of the Sto. Sepulcro are used here, taken from his blog: 
http://lasagradaexpedicion.weebly.com/la-sagrada-expedicioacuten/santo-sepulcro-de-paco-414th-fiesta

254. MARFIL: Philippine Religious Ivory Carvings, part 2

STO. NIÑO, Head and hands of ivory, mounted on wooden body. Garbed investment embroidered with gold thread. 19^th c. Ht. 30 cm. Gopiao Collection.

By Jose Mari P. Treñas

Photography by  Patrick Uy

Philippine Religious Ivory Carvings.

Excavations show fossils of elephants and tusk-bearing relatives of elephants in various Philippine sites (Cagayan Valley, Pangasinan, Panay, Manila and Mindanao.) A Spanish Augustinian memo in 1573 mentions elephants in Sulu. Sixteenth and 17^th century Spanish accounts also state that ivory (marfil) was fashioned by the Filipinos into religious statuary, jewelry and weapon handles. Still the existence of a thriving ivory carving tradition before the Spaniards came cannot be ascertained. What is indisputable is that the earliest religious ivory carvings were commissioned by the Spanish friars initially from immigrant carvers from Southeastern China.

SANTO NIÑO, Solid ivory figure, arms carved separately. Gold crowns, traces of gilding on the hair. Glass eyes, 19^th c., Ht. 20 cm. Treñas Collection.

The most intriguing question is whether these were carved exclusively by the Chinese (which was the dogma upheld until fairly recently) or whether this craft passed on to Filipinos early on. Gatbonton initially expressed a theory about a “local” style in her 1982 catalogue, Imagery in Ivory for the ivory exhibit of the Intramuros Administration. The theory that Filipinos also carved ivory was again ventured by Gatbonton rather tentatively in her book published by the Intramuros Administration in 1983, entitled Philippine Religious Carvings in Ivory, when she states that, “We may reasonably assume that Filipino carvers, we working alongside the Chinese.” This assertion Gatbonton repeats more unequivocably in her article for Arts of Asia also published in 1983—but here she goes on a limb. She breaks the paradigm—she states that based on the collection gathered by the Intramuros Administration, it was possible to reassess the general belief that Chinese carvers were responsible for all the ivory carvings originating from the Philippines.

MADONNA AND CHILD. Solid ivory figure with gold leaf decorations; gold crowns and gold rostrillos (facial aureole). 18thc., Ht. 26 cm. Treñas Collection

She cites two reasons: 1. The Filipino carver’s attitude towards the theme of Crucifixion where Christ is the passive victim); 2. The Filipino carver’s tendency to carve for frontal effect.

This theory was actively pursued by Jose. Although it is not clear when Filipinos started to carve ivory santos, by the 1730s, the Spanish missionaries were praising the artistic skills of indios and mestizos. In 1729, the Archbishop of Manila states that in connection with a proposed deportation of the Chinese, the natives were ready to take over all crafts. In 1738, Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde S.J. wrote that the Filipinos were ‘exceedingly clever in handiwork—good carvers, gilders and carpenters.” Significantly, Jose notes that the item ‘sculptor’ does not appear in the lists of Chinese professions in 1689, 1700 or 1745. All in all, historical evidence shows that the Chinese were absent from the Philippines for long periods of time. The answer to this question may not be definitive, but the paradigm has been broken.

SANTO NIÑO. Head, hands, feet of ivory mounted on wooden body. Garbed in vestment embroidered with gold thread,, silver crown,m Late 18th  cm., Ht. 39 cm.m Gopiao Collection.

Conclusion

While more research and documentation have to be done, significant strides have been made on the recognition of Philippine ivories. The Spanish scholar and writer, Margarita Estella Marcos, has traced a number of Philippine ivory carvings now in private collections. Jose enumerates some of these pieces: a Santo Cristo documented in 1585 in the Church of the Magdalena in Sevilla, a number of pieces given by Bishop Antonio Paino to the Church of Sta. Maria in Valladolid in 1630 and 1660, a plaque depicting the Crucifixion dated between 1694 in the Church of Vera Cruz in Salamanca, a San Miguel and San Juan Bautista dated between 1695 and 1712 in the Cathedral of Badajoz, a Divino Pastor dated 1699 in the Castle of the Family of San Francisco Javier in Navarra, a Cristo de los Peligros which arrived in Spain in 1715 and is now enshrined in the Parish of Belmonte in Cuenca.

PURISIMA CONCEPCION, Solid ivory figure. Gold ornaments, Late 18th  c., Ht. 27 cm., Maralit Collection.

In 1770, a dozen ivory figures (among them, the Four Evangelists, a Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion and the Four Doctors of the Church) were documented to have arrived in Mexico from the Philippines. The Museo Oriental in Valladolid exhibits many ivory carvings of Philippine provenance.

More and more, Philippine ivory carvings are emerging from the shadow of European ivories. Although there were early condescending references to the Philippine pieces as hybrid ivories with pious Oriental expressions, Western oses and agitated draperies, this has changed. These pieces, the result of a unique Filipino sensibility utilizing European models and Chinese tecniques, are now recognized as among the most beautiful religious ivory carvings produced during this period.

253. MARFIL: Philippine Religious Ivory Carvings, part 1

PURISIMA CONCEPCION, Solid ivory figure with hands carved separately. Gold leaf decoration. Gold ornaments. 19^th c., Ht: 21.5 cm., Gopiao Collection

By Jose Mari P. Treñas            Photography by  Patrick Uy

Long dismissed as crude and naïve expressions of alien faith, Philippine religious carvings in ivory are being seen in a new light. Exquisite examples of documented Philippine provenance in Europe and Mexico, beautiful pieces in the Intramuros Administration and the occasional rare item that still comes into the market, have debunked the conventional wisdom about Philippine ivories and have made historians and scholars rethink and reassess the same.

NIÑO DORMIDO, Ivory head, hands and feet mounted on wooden body. Garbed in vestment embroidered with gold thread. 19^th c., Lebgth: 20 cm., Maralit Collection.

I first became interested in Philippine ivory when I was twelve. My family would troop over regularly to my lola’s house for Sunday lunch and while everybody would lazily linger over coffee and dessert, I would politely leave the dining table to sneak to the altar in my lola’s room. There I would seek out two ivory heads hidden in the lower drawer. Barely two inches in size, they were so cool to my touch. The color was so fleshlike, the glass eyes staring enigmatically ahead and the lips carved into hieratic smiles. Even the cracks that randomly ran from the forehead down the neck had their own strange beauty. I think my lolal noticed my fascination, for the two heads were placed in my pocket to take home. Although I did not buy my first ivory until two years ago, I was hooked. It was not the first.

SANTO NIÑO, Solid ivory figure. Silver ornaments, 19^th c., Ht.: 27 cm, Maralit Collection.

In his introductory essay to the book, Masterpieces of Ivory from the Walters Art Gallery, which contains examples of Philippine ivory carvings bought in such diverse places as Venice and Paris, Richard Randall Jr. writes that, “throughout history, ivory has always been regarded as a rare and beautifuol substance, fit for gods and kings.” A passage in the Book of Kings which Randall quotes reads, “Once in three years comes the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold and silver and ivory, apes and peacocks.” Randall cites that many kings have sat on thrones made of ivory, Solomon among the first. A 17th  century ivory throne made for one of the kings of Denmark still exists in the Rosenberg Castle in Copenhagen.

NIÑO DORMIDO, Solid ivory body with glass eyes. 19^th c., Length: 18 cm., Maralit Collection.

The trade in ivory was mentioned in the Bible, both in the Book of Kings and Ezekiel. This has been subsequently confirmed by archaeological data. In Ezekiel, it is said that the men of Dedan on the Red Sea, “brought you for a present horns of ivory.” Aden, at the foot of the Red Sea, was the most active trading post of ivory when Marco Polo wrote about his travels in the 13th century. The route then started from East Africa to Zanzibar, then to Aden, up to the Red Sea to Egypt and overland to the Mediterranean. This route was pretty much the same in the 19th century, when ivory was shipped from Zanzibar through the Suez Canal and on to London and Antwerp.

What is Ivory?

In his excellent catalogue for the 19991 Philippine Exhibit of religious ivory carvings held at Pasadena’s Pacific Asia Museum, Regalado Jose Jr. writes that, “Today, the term for ivory has come to include material with similar qualities in varying degrees, obtained from the teeth or tusks of other animals such as the walrus, narwhal, sea cow, and hippopotamus.” However, only the tusk of the elephant which can reach 8 feet in length and weigh as much as 200 pounds is regarded as “true ivory.”

Jose further classifies elephant ivory into its three main sources: Fossil ivory, African ivory and Oriental ivory. Although the Philippines was closer to the sources of ivory (India. Indonesia, Burma, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Borneo) , the ivory used in Philippine religious carvings  was  African. Esperanza Gatbonton, in her article, “An Introduction to Philippine Colonial Carvings in Ivory” printed in the July-August 1983 issue of the Arts of Asia points out that the large scale commerce in ivory was undertaken by the Portuguese in 1509. The Portuguese then held sway in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. They conquered Goa in 1510, Malacca in 1511. The result was a monopoly in ivory. These Portuguese vessels  would sail with the southeast monsoon and unload their cargo in Manila.