219. EL STO. ENTIERRO DE GUAGUA

EL STO. ENTIERRO DE GUAGUA. Considered as one ofthe most beautiful and most opulent in the country, the Sto. Entierro of the Velez-Ynfante Family is shown here during the Good Friday procession in 20__, Phot courtesy of Dr. Raymund Feliciano.

 The Santo Entierro of Guagua has been the soul of the Velez family over the last 250 years. It takes a week to prepare, polish, assemble, clean and light up this elaborate silver carroza for the Good Friday procession. 150 volunteers are chosen each year from the Barangay Santa Filomena, Guagua to serve the Senor Milagroso.

The Santo Entierro in its magnificent calandra, in 1949. Picture source: Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture, Vol. X, No. 2, 2006. "Guagua to Quiapo", by Ramon Ma. Zaragoza. p. 22 

Sampaguita garlands are the only floral decorations allowed. When lighted candles proved to be unsafe for the crowds during the procession, electric lights were installed in the virinas of the carroza, requiring power from 11 heavy duty truck batteries. In addition, thirty violinists volunteer their services. The image of Jesus in repose is reputed to be the most beautiful of its kind in the country.

103.BURIED TREASURES, Along a Boulevard of Broken Dreams

I've been told by a lot of collector-friends that Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City has a lot of junk shops and second-hand stores that hold hidden treasures of every sort--religious artifacts included. I am familiar with the the place as my first job was in an office located along this road lined with interesting shops, sights and buildings—like Arcega’s—where one could shop for the finest bicycles, and of course, the Magnolia Ice Cream Plant that housed the famous dairy bar. Further down was Broadway Centrum, then a spanking new commercial complex.

That was way back in the late 1980s, and I have not explored that side of the boulevard since. Well, this Sunday, I decided to set off for a return adventure to the famed boulevard after over 2 decades just to check those junkyards my tipsters have been raving about.

In fact, Aurora had become unrecognizable—so narrow, dirty and looking unsafe—and here I am walking the stretch of the boulevard under the hot early afternoon sun. The intersecting streets still rang with familiarity—there’s Seattle, Boston, Manga—but Betty Go-Belmonte St.? Now, where are the junk shops?

At the far end of Monte de Piedad St., I saw heaps of organized trash and stuff strewn on the sidewalk. The front of his house was littered with old 1960s magazines and newspapers, bric-a-brac and paintings, paper documents, jugs and glasses, softdrink bottles, soda cases, old toys, 1970s calendar, ceramics, and every conceivable house junk known to Man. I knew I had arrived at the right place.

My heart always palpitates when I see never-before seen junkyards such as this, my kind of hunting grounds for antiques and collectibles. I was greeted by a hulking young man, who lifted the tarpaulin awning shielding the front of his house, further revealing more flotsam and jetsam. “Ah, we expected you”, he said, and “we were told of your collecting interests by dealers in Kamuning, so we've prepared some items that may be of interest to you.."

I was not prepared for the item he showed, which was to become my most wanted object of desire. It’s inconceivable that this treasure could even be found here.

In fact, I had even ignored this thing on the floor, casually placed inside a red shopping bag, lost amidst the trash and thrift shop stuff in the small, cramped apartment. "This here is an ivory Christ...", he said, "but the case is a bit dilapidated..."

Ivory? Sto. Entierro? He must be kidding. I peeked into the shopping bag and sure enough, inside was a small calandra (display casket) with wooden and glass parts that have started to separate--- it had to be secured with strings to keep it together.

Then lo and behold! Inside was the wooden body of a dead Christ—with an ivory head. I was stunned. Ivory Santo Entierros are so hard to find in the market, that I have only seen one for sale, which I eventually got, never mind if the Christ was made of terra cotta. The rest are in private collections.

Now this Sto. Entierro is of ivory—the head that is. Closer inspection revealed that the head is of solid ivory, with beautifully carved features.

The only drawback was the nose—it had been sliced off neatly. It’s intriguing to think that the ivory part was used as an anting-anting (amulet) by a Katipunero (Philippine revolutionist) or that it was cut by an insurgent to disrespect his aquiline-nosed colonizers.

But the wooden body was in good condition, the fingers complete, with just a few toe tips missing. Its wig had disintegrated many years ago, but even the skullcap was there. A few trips to my santero will easily resurrect the Dead Christ and restore it to its former glory.

Putting my great negotiation skills to work, I arm-twisted him into selling the photos, the folk santos and the ivory Sto. Entierro for one, neat package cost that I offered. He agreed—and he even threw one small crown for a santo as my buena mano bonus.

This Sto. Entierro, certainly, is my find of the year. Who would think that I will find this treasure buried in a junkyard, along a boulevard of broken dreams and damaged goods from old homes? And, did I tell you that he even led me to another giant stockroom across the street that was crammed with the same stuff from wall to floor. I am sure there are other spectacular antique finds there, but I’ll leave that for another day.

Meanwhile, if you happen to be walking along Aurora Boulevard—don’t forget to keep your eye on those heaps of junk littering the nooks and crevices of Monte de Piedad St. On that same street, lightning may strike twice, and, underneath the debris and detritus, you’ll be able to dig up your own find of the year!

97.A CRISTO, A CALANDRA, AND A RE-CONSTRUCTION STORY

About 6 years ago, I attended a special auction of the Bayanihan Collectors at the Loft, in Rockwell, only because it was walking distance from my place. It was late in the afternoon and the auction was about to end.

I quickly scanned the bourse tables and found this rare mini-calandra with a terra-cotta Christ. It was a bit-run down, but I saw it had promise—the carvings on the base were very detailed, and most of the calandra parts were intact, including the etched glass panels and the relief carvings on the trapezoidal cover.

The 8 inch Christ itself is very unusual because it is made from terra cotta and wood. The catafalque on which it rested even had its original satin cover. The base has a drapery pattern and is trimmed with floral carvings, now incomplete.

The dealer wasn’t even there when I inquired about the piece; I had to talk to him on the phone. When he told me of the price of the calandra, I thought it was reasonable enough, but I wasn’t into these things back then.

I let it go but I kept the business card of dealer Albert Dealino and promised to visit his place. Flash forward, early 2007. While I was cleaning my files, I found Abet’s card and this time, I checked if his contact number was still valid—it was! I had to reintroduce myself to him and then asked if I could visit his Fairview warehouse.

He agreed and so we set up a meeting on one rainy Sunday afternoon. It was a long drive to north Fairview but I found his home-cum-warehouse which was crammed with old things of all sort. It was then that I asked him about the calandra that I saw years ago in Rockwell. Surprisingly, he told me it went unsold and was still available. After a few minutes, he took it out and I was reacquainted once more with the object of desire that I thought had gotten away.

To make the story short, I got the piece at a discount and carted it home with the intention of having it restored to its former glory. Instinctively, I thought of assigning the work to Mr. Tom Joven, the accomplished ecclesiastical artist from Bacolor, whose background in furniture, I thought, would be valuable in a project that requires carpentry, carving and expert finishing.

Sure enough, when I brought the piece to him, his sharp eye noticed something amiss with the mini-calandra and its base. Later, he called me to say he believed that the calandra used to have a separate base—to which it was attached, at some point in time. He asked my approval if he could separate the calandra from its base; a new base will be made for it while the separated carved base can serve as a display stand for it or for some other santo or urna. A few months after, the calandra looked like this with its new, simplified base.

A few more weeks would elapsed before the calandra could be finished and primed for painting. Note the added floral trims, the handsome Grecian columns on the four corners and the arches to frame the four glass paneled sides of the calandra.

When Tom removed the catafalque that had been ‘upholstered’ with red satin, he found out that the sides were trimmed with fine gold embroidery in repeating trefoil pattern that have tarnished with age.

Work on the base proved to be faster. The floral carvings around the perimeter of the base were completed and then painted and gilded.

Finally, just this weekend, after a year of intense restoration, my mini-calandra project was finally finished. It was painted in black and with faux kamagong streaks. The floral trims, the columns, the serrated edgings and the relief carvings were all gold-leafed.

All it needs is a small agnus dei (Lamb of God) figure to sit on top of the calandra. Unfortunately, the old bubble glass panels were too fragile to be reused; new glass had to be ordered. 

Even then, with or without the base, the completed mini-calandra looked exceptionally beautiful.

As to the terra cotta Cristo, a nephew of mine who has a special interest in European ecclesiastical art noticed its similarity to the Cristo Yacente of the Hermandad del Sto. Entierro in Spain.

He also told me that what I have is certainly of European origin as terra cotta figures are made all over Europe like in Italy and Spain. I had thought of housing a smaller ivory Sto. Entierro for this calandra, but because of these inputs, I have decided to retain this original Cristo.

I am in the process of restoring it myself (I don’t know of any who does clay restoration!), but I have decently managed to put the broken parts together using tacky glue, filling the spaces with epoxy clay which I discovered recently. 

I have also succeeded in cleaning it using good, old dependable Wipe-Out. Its dirty brown complexion has given way to a pinkish hue, a dramatic change. It still remains to be seen if I have a future as a santo-restorer.

The hardest part of the restoration is over--a mourning shroud, a pillow and perhaps a small crown of thorns and potencias are all that the calandra needs as finishing touches. 

Jesus’s resurrection took awhile to happen---over a year for the restoration alone and a total of 6 years to bring home a treasure that I now consider one of my most valuable finds.