ABOUT THE WORK

It is very seldom that one sees an 18th century balayong cabinet or aparador such as this, especially one in an almost pristine condition. The fact that it has three doors instead of the usual two is most unusual for the period. The joinery, too, is superb with not a single nail used in its construction. This aparador was probably made for a church sacristy to hold books, particularly the Libros de Bautismos, Libros de Casamientos and the Libros de Defunciones, the records of Baptisms, Marriages, and Internments. In the cabinet would also have been stored the Libro de Inventarios or Inventories, as well as the Libros de Cargo y Data, the records of Income and Expenses. All these books were valuable, because they were audited annually by the Bishop’s representative to determine the amount due to the Bishop’s coffers. The bookcase stands on four cabriole-type legs and has an apron in front and at the sides edged with a jigsaw outline of graceful ogee curves and cusps. The fronts of the carcass frame above and below the drawers and the doors are appliquéd with a convex molding with fillet edges. The cabinet has a row of three drawers below, each with a keyhole and a brass handle attached to wrought-iron rings with bosses. The handle of the rightmost drawer is now missing and has been replaced by a brass wire. Each of the drawers originally had a keyhole surround that were embellished at each corner by four wrought-iron bosses. The surrounds are now missing, but marks of the nails that held them in place are still visible. The bosses are still attached to each corner of each absent keyhole surround, except for one missing at the middle drawer. The sides of the cabinet corresponding to the drawers have panels carved with an oblong design with cusped corners, while the upper portion are composed of two plain balayong planks joined together. The upper part of the cabinet is composed of three framed panels in front. The two outer ones are doors that swing out on wooden pivot hinges and are equipped with a wrought-iron ring pull attached to a ring with a boss and a keyhole above embellished with an oval keyhole surround of brass. The panel in the middle, held in place by two tenons on top, can be pulled out from the bottom. The doors and the central panel in front are framed with a wide straight molding bordered by a quarter-round with a fillet molding around the inner edges. The framed panels, with a somewhat beveled edge, are carved with an oblong with cusped corners. When open, three boxwood shelves with balayong frames are revealed. The plain and straight top of the cabinet is decorated with a turned and pointed urn-shaped finial at each corner. -Martin I. Tinio, Jr.