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

ABOUT THE WORK

The letter from Agueda Paterno (the paper used has its own letter head with Agueda’s name) was sent to Don Pedro Alejandro] Paterno who was at that time residing at Calle Recoletos, numero 3 bajo, Madrid. The sender, her sister is informing Don Pedro that he and his brother Antonio will receive an “anillo de brillante solitario” (diamond solitaire ring). The said ring that features just a single antique diamond as the main piece was acquired by their father for a huge amount of $400. The sender is also enclosing a pair of gold cufflinks with stone crystal and another pair with shell crystal. This letter is reflective of the socioeconomic status of the Paterno family at that time. John Foreman, an English traveler during the late 19th century notes that the Paternos of Quiapo were among the distinguished families of Manila in the middle of the 19th century. They were into several businesses at that time—casco and barge services conveying goods to the ships entering the port of Manila, a store in Escolta, and later on acted as middleman operating between the foreign trading houses and producers of cash-crops (like coffee) in the provinces. Among the elite, it is customary among family members left in the Philippines to send jewelries to their siblings who are studying in Spain and in other parts of Europe at that time. The same thing was experienced by Rizal. When the national hero experienced financial difficulties abroad, one of his sisters sent him a diamond ring to help him with his finances. (Lars Raymund C. Ubaldo, Ph.D.)