Provenance: Nueva Ecija Cabeza Don Mariano Santiago Tinio Don Casimiro Gonzales Tinio aka Capitan Berong Dona Bernarda Diaz-Sta. Romana Tinio de Gabaldon Don Senen Tinio Gabaldon Ma. Luisa Valera Gabaldon- Campos

ABOUT THE WORK

Furniture made of ebony, locally called kamagong, was only for the very rich. Aside from the material being very hard to find, the density and hardness of the wood made it extremely difficult to work with. Artisans working with kamagong had to sharpen their tools almost every half hour and a wrong move during carving usually resulted in a chipped chisel blade. Furthermore, kamagong sawdust was very fine and tended to get into the pores of the skin, making it itch. The piece belonged to one of the progenitors of the Tinio Family, the richest and most landed family in Nueva Ecija. Cabesang Mariano was a grandson of Juan Tinio, the 1st and only middleman of the Tobacco Monopoly, the profits from which made the colony financially independent from Mexico for the first time in 200 years! It passed on by inheritance to the Gabaldon Family and was formerly in the Casa Hacienda of the 5,500-hectare Hda. Bertese. Prior to land reform the estate covered the whole municipality of Quezon, N. Ecija, including the land occupied by the municipal buildings. This kamagong bed is most unusual its elaborate headboard is carved from an exceedingly thin plank that is completely black. The bed stands on four turned barley-twist posts that end in blunt arrow feet. The caned mattress support is framed by planks ornamented on its upper and lower edges with a quarter-round molding. The front and side aprons attached to the bottom of the frame are appliqued at the ends with a spray of three grape leaves and a bunch of fruit. The headboard consists of a completely carved and pierced panel within a plain frame with a slightly convex face. A wide, shallow vase with a single large peony flower is at the center of the panel. Flanking it symmetrically at either side are intertwined vines and tendrils with grape leaves and bunches of fruit. Surmounting the headboard frame is a carved and pierced crest featuring an open flower resting on symmetrical scrolls that become leafy and fruiting grape vines that taper at either end. Attached to the bedposts are tester supports that are carved with a turned vase surmounted by tapering barley-twist posts with a turned capital decorated with a fillet and surmounted by a ring abacus. The bed, as was typical of the period, originally had a plain tester made of plain slats to which turned pineapple finials were attached at the corners. When the fashion for canopied beds fell out of use in the mid-20th century, the tester was removed, but the finials were retained. The latter is beautifully carved and consists of a pair of rings with a reel between them. A beaded band decorates the middle of the reel, while a pineapple above it terminates the finial. -Martin I. Tinio, Jr.