Provenance: Private collection, Ilocos Sur

ABOUT THE WORK

Neo-Classical Elegance from the North by AUGUSTO MARCELINO REYES GONZALEZ III During the Spanish colonial period, a major problem of people, specially the rich, was how to conserve their clothing, the quotidian and the special, the latter tragicomically enough made out of fragile textiles like pina and silk which deteriorated quickly in the tropical humidity, which encouraged damaging molds, but were also prey to a plethora of hungry insects and insatiable rodents. The instant solutions were the local narra wood chests and the Chinese and Japanese lacquer and camphor wood chests, but they still proved to be short– term solutions. Most of the narra chests were smallish and could not contain enough, and unless the wood was mature, still prey to white ants/termites and the persistent “bukbok”/woodborers. To the consternation of the senores and senoras, they found out soon enough that mice had an appetite for Chinese and Japanese lacquer and were soon consumed to thin air. Camphor wood chests lasted a little longer, but improperly stored in unsuitable warm and wet weather conditions, they succumbed to wood rot. Seeing examples of imported furniture and their materials at the Divisoria, Tondo entrepot --- Chinese, Japanese, Indian, American, and European, “Sangley” Chinese and Filipino craftsmen from Binondo adapted and interpreted the foreign designs with local materials. The cabinets/wardrobes of kamagong and narra wood with marquetry of lanite and kamagong, sometimes of “madreperla” mother–of–pearl, were created. Both by intent and happenstance, they proved to be efficient storage units for clothes and even jewelry. The hard kamagong was impervious to the teeth of white ants/termites, “bukbok”/woodborers, and even rodents. The narra backing allowed the air to circulate so the fragile textiles did not rot. Finally, there was an excellent storage solution. However, they were expensive because of their good materials and laborious execution, so only the rich could afford them. The crest of this unusual and tall kamagong aparador in the late neoclassical style is an elegant carved frieze of interlacing scrolls, anthemion flowers, and acanthus leaves, a pattern more English Georgian than Greek or Roman Classical. Two urn–shaped finials surmount the two sides of the crest. A concave molding tops the main case of the aparador. The two doors are made up of two kamagong planks framed by bars; a raised neoclassical panel with chamfered edges was carved on each door panel. Both sides of the aparador are made up of only one plank of kamagong framed by bars; a raised neoclassical panel with chamfered edges was carved on each side panel. Instead of detached or engaged colonettes/pilasters, this interesting aparador features engaged balusters topped by long lancet forms on the lower half of the case frame. Inside, there are four levels of shelving --- under the fourth level are three small drawers --- an interesting arrangement for a neoclassical Filipino cabinet produced from 1825–1850. A prominent and respected furniture collector and connoisseur remarked on the unusually wider widths and longer lengths of the kamagong used for this aparador. Kamagong, even mature examples, rarely exceed 20.32 cm/8” inches width and 121.92 cm/48” inches length Three long panels of narra wood form the back of the cabinet. Below the elegant doors is an inverted triangular apron in kamagong wood. The cabinet is supported by four stylized urn–shaped feet of kamagong. Adhering to the late neoclassical style, the aparador maintains the attributes of order, balance, and restraint. Neoclassical kamagong aparadors were observed as Manila in origin by leading antique dealers Ramon N Villegas and Osmundo Esguerra in the mid –1980s because they were usually found by antique scouts in the area of Metropolitan Manila or what is now termed as the NCR National Capital Region. Interestingly, many were also found in Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte, probably through the riverine trade as well as the influx of craftsmen from south to north and vice–versa. As mentioned previously, the dominant style was American Federal (due to the majority of American trade with Las Islas Filipinas in the 1800s) with English Regency/George IV and German Biedermeier influences. This type of cabinet was usually found, invariably neglected, in the ancestral collections of Manila’s oldest clans like the Tuason–Legarda– Prieto– Valdes, Roxas–de Ayala–Zobel–Soriano, and the Roxas– Zaragoza–Infante–Preysler