ABOUT THE WORK

This mesa altar or altar table was made in the hinterlands of the Ilocos as evidenced by the primitiveness of its execution. The piece has a balayong carcass and stands on four cabriole-type legs ending in stylized ball and claw feet that are joined to each other by a box stretcher composed of narrow planks. To the underside of the drawer supports in front and at the sides are attached scalloped molave aprons jigsaw-outlined with a lambrequin design of ogee curves and cusps. The table has a row of three balayong drawers in front, each with a beautiful and sturdy brass handle attached to thick rings and a keyhole decorated with a scalloped brass keyhole surround engraved to form a chrysanthemum. On either end of the row of drawers, in front and at the back, is a balayong flange of ogee curves and cusps tapering towards the bottom. The side and rear of the table are composed of molave planks. The top of the table consists of a wide molave plank that is miter-framed or binandeja with a border of thick balayong planks edged with a cap molding with a wide and shallow cavetto molding beneath. -Martin I. Tinio, Jr.