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

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!

231. FACEBOOK SANTOS AND OTHER ON-LINE FINDS.

SAN RAFAEL AND TOBIAS.
A rarely-seen tableau showing the archangel with Tobias,
  whom he helped in catching a fish. Once home, the angel
prepared a salve from parts of the fish that was
then used to heal Tobias' blind father. This 17 in.
primitive piece was found in a Manila online shop.

Indeed, antique santos can come from the most unexpected places. The advent of the internet has changed the way we shop--antiques, included. Where before, sneaking out to the antique enclave of Manila from my Makati office meant braving jeepney rides and lunch-hour traffic just to check out  new santo arrivals, now, santos are available on demand--thanks to good old ebay, rubylane, tias.com or etsy.

BELL VIRGIN FROM BOHOL.
A century-old santa of heavy wood, with characteristic
bell-shaped skirt, typical of Bohol santos. The image,
with very sparse carving, except for the very detailed hair,
is polychromed. It was found on the Philippine selling site,
sulit.com.ph, which has since become, olx.com.ph

Suddenly, these online shops and auction sites provided a convenient and alternative way to acquiring santos. With just a click, you can be an armchair shopper and check on the antique through pictures provided by the dealer, and read through the descriptions, price points and shipping preferences. Sure there are risks involved in sourcing santos in this manner-- especially with international transactions--but by and large, my online buying experience has generally been pleasant.

SAN NICOLAS DE TOLENTINO.
This 13 inch santo was found on a Facebook Group that sold
antiques and collectibles. When I first saw it, it was encrusted
with thick grime, but the octagonal base was interesting.
Deep cleaning revealed painted details like stars on the santo's
habit and colors on the base.

Eventually, local selling sites like sulit.com.ph, buyandsellph.com started adding "antiques" as part of their product categories, and if one were patient enough to check the items regularly, one could spot a great santo find.

SAN PEDRO
A large and hefty San Pedro, 28 inches high, found on
sulit.com.ph. It went unsold after several re-posts, so I
eventually bought it at a discounted price. The santo is
carvedin one piece, saved for the head and hands. 

But what really made santo collecting more exciting was when social media sites became immensely popular. Facebook, for instance, attracted like-minded people who formed groups to share common interests. The sharing eventually progressed into buying and selling, and today, there are perhaps, more than a dozen facebook groups involved in the lively trade.

ANGEL
This looks like an angel fragment from a large San Isidro
de Labrador tableaux, based on the hand position of the
figure who appears like he is manning a plow. The base is a
replacement. It was obtained from a facebook group, and was
shipped all the way from the Visayas to Pampanga!

The santos featured here were all purchased online, from different sites. The deal is based on mutual trust, and I would like to think that the groups of which I am a member are strict in the enforcement of house rules, that mandates inclusion of a description and a price, plus a lot of caveats!

SAN VICENTE FERRER
I was drawn to the vibrant color of this very common
preacher saint, a vintage piece that is at once simple,
yet powerfully attractive with its bright hues and tones.
Most of all, it was very affordable! At just 11 inches tall,
it was also cute! It was found being  sold in a facebook group. 

Negotiations and deals are sealed through private messaging and phone calls. Meet-ups and delivery by a courier are the most popular modes of transferring ownership of the item.You would agree that the santos that I have acquired online are a charming lot, with prices no different from antique shops, and in most cases, even cheaper. It takes a discerning eye and an inquisitive mind to spot a santo that's right for you and your budget, and a fast finger to click on the button to type in your final decision--MINE!

SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA
One of my favorite online purchase, this heavy folk santo was
emailed to me for consideration, before it was listed online.
It is a beautifully carved piece and has on its original paint.
It stands over 16 inches tall including the base of turned wood.