ABOUT THE WORK

This late neoclassical armchair in golden narra wood stained to look like kamagong wood or ebony is one of the very few Filipino chairs to have original mother-of-pearl inlay. It is a rarity characteristic of the vaunted pieces in the Luis Ma. Araneta collection. The armchair is of Biedermeier inspiration with its sloping back enclosing a caned panel. The bent arms terminate with stylized acanthus leaf scrolls supported by truncated balusters on plinths with carved lozenges of what seem to be chrysanthemums (references to a Japanese craftsman). The seat is supported by stylized undulating legs terminating in a variation of club or pad feet. Mother-of-pearl inlays with triangle and diamond shapes in geometric patterns are generously applied all over the small armchair. There is a flower with leaves interpreted in mother-of-pearl in the center of the backrest. The mother-of-pearl inlays with the triangle and diamond shapes and their positioning are strongly reminiscent of Islamic work in Southeast Asia. On the subject of mother-of-pearl inlaid Filipino chairs, there is an extant armchair of Biedermeier inspiration from the 1830s in the Gonzalez-Arnedo estate which has five diamond-shaped mother-of-pearl inlays on each side of the backrest. The rest of the chair has restrained carabao bone and kamagong wood inlay in various shapes. The late antiques historian Martin I. Tinio Jr. considered that Buencamino-Arnedo armchair as “very interesting.” Filipino antique dealers and collectors like to say that a rare piece like this is of the type that is no longer available, even when one has the wherewithal, simply because they have all been purchased, are treasured by their new owners, and locked up in private collections. The appearance of this rare item in the market is now regarded as an event worth celebrating