Provenance: : Don Pedro Alejandro Paterno (1857– 1911) and Doña Luisa Piñeyro de Lugo y Merino (Sra. de Paterno, d. 1897)

Exhibited: : Exposicion General de Las Islas Filipinas, 1887, Palacio de Cristal,
Parque de Retiro, Madrid;
Exposicion Historico-Americana, 1892 alongside the Exposicion Historico Europe, Palacio de Biblioteca y Museos Nacionales (National Library and Museums) 1892, Parque de Madrid (formerly Parque de Retiro), Madrid
Exposicion Historico-Natural y Etnográfica, Palacio de Biblioteca
y Museos Nacionales (National Library and Museums),
Parque de Madrid (formerly Parque de Retiro), Madrid, 1893
Exposicion Regional Filipina, Manila, 1895

Literature: : Black and white photograph of the Exposicion Historico-Americana, 1892, from the collection of Don Pedro Paterno

ABOUT THE WORK

There is a surviving photograph of Don Pedro Paterno at the legendary Santa Cruz residence in the early 1900s showing him at the far end of a “sala” with capiz windows and the famous lion–motif “Carlos Trece” chairs of the family with European balloonback ball chairs in its foreground (“Sala de Diez Puertas”). Superimposed on a sala entrance door was the famous and magnificent fully–gilded arch of “anahaw” palm leaves, banana leaves, and “areca”/betel nut trunks with nuts and roots commissioned from Isabelo Tampinco. In the foreground was the “Caida” (entrance hall/family room) furnished with taxidermied animals and a big number of “tipos del pais” sculptures set on a “borne”/roundabout in the middle of the room. That was how fashionable “tipos del pais” renditions were all the way to the early 1900s. The somewhat derogatory term “tipos del pais” (“types of the country”) referred to invariably charming renditions of the inhabitants of Las Islas Filipinas during the 1800s whether rendered in painting or sculpture. Damian Domingo y Gabor (o 1796 – + 1834) and his protege Justiniano Asuncion y Molo (o 1816 – + 1901) painted exquisitely detailed aquarelle paintings on the subject. Jose Honorato Lozano (o 1821 – + 1885) created fantastically detailed “letras y figuras” in watercolor (one’s name spelled out with people in various activities). Romualdo de Jesus (o 1848 – + 1921), Isabelo Tampinco y Lacandola (o 1850 – + 1933), and Graciano Nepomuceno (o 1881 – + 1974) produced amazingly lifelike sculptures of farmers, fishermen, vendors, cockfighters, etc. “Tipos del pais” paintings and sculptures were the preferred souvenirs of well–off American, British, French, and Spanish businessmen returning to their countries from Filipinas in the 1800s. The production of “tipos del pais” statuettes was centered in Santa Cruz, Manila and in Paete, Laguna as well. Santa Cruz was where most of the expert carver members of the prestigious “Gremio de Escultores” worked and lived --- Romualdo de Jesus, Isabelo Tampinco y Lacandola, Manuel Flores, Crispulo Hocson, Ramon Martinez, Marcelo Nepomuceno, Graciano Nepomuceno; Paete was where many seasoned, expert carvers also worked and stayed --- Mariano Baldemor Madrinan, Faustino Caday, Inocencio Pagalanan, Mariano Dailo, Braulio Adao. In the 1880s, Laguna Governor Don Francisco de Yriarte y Menendez encouraged Paete craftsmen to improve their productions and mounted exhibitions to display them to a wider public. To this day, “tipos del pais” statuettes of high quality are produced by renowned Paete sculptor Luisito Ac–Ac and his associates. The “tipo del pais” statuette titled “La Sampaguita” is a comely, lean maiden whose fresh, clean looks would still be considered attractive today. She resembles the international Filipina supermodel Anna Bayle. One can imagine all sorts of predatory men vying for her attention. Her thick tresses are combed back neatly and held by a large, simple “peineta” of tortoiseshell. The young woman wears a blue–and–white thin–striped camisa and an “alampay” (or “panuelo”) with a red stripe; she wears a religious scapular over her camisa which in more modest circumstances would be almost covered by a closed “panuelo.” She wears a modest black “tapis” over her skirt of thick red–and–white stripes. The young woman wears brown abaca slippers which seem small for her. She proffers fresh “sampaguita” blooms from a round “bilao” or woven tray she is carrying. The lifelike statuette is signed by the sculptor Rosendo Martinez y Lorenzo, brother of painter Felix. This unusual “tipos del pais” statuettes were thought lost to time until they resurfaced with a group of singular objects owned by Don Pedro Paterno from the estate of his wife Doña Luisa Piñeyro y Merino in Spain. They were well–documented in photographs as patriotic decorative pieces Paterno used to exhibit in his Filipino pavilions during international expositions. (An extant photograph of the Exposicion in 1892 shows La Sampaguita exhibited in one of the pavilions. — LGN) The objects remained in the Piñeyro residence when the childless Paterno couple returned to Filipinas in the 1890s; Doña Luisa passed away in Manila in 1897; Don Pedro passed away 14 years later in 1911. The Piñeyro family did not express any interest to claim anything from Don Pedro’s estate. With their reappearance, the circle of provenance has been completed.