Provenance: Manlapaz family, Pampanga

ABOUT THE WORK

“Singular” and “exceptional” are the best descriptions for this particular comoda de poste crafted of exotic (and probably extinct) alintatao or satinwood made in Baliuag, Bulacan from around 1825–50. “Restrained,” “careful,” and “deliberate” are appropriate descriptions for its refined carabao bone, kamagong wood, and lanite wood inlay ornamentation. The top is a single piece of alintatao wood, decorated on its three edges by a pattern of bone lozenges centered by diamonds connected by lanite line inlay. The two top drawers are decorated with unusual kamagong line inlay in a diamond pattern, accented with kamagong diamonds and rectangles; these are flanked by two small drawers for candles. There are four conventional drawers underneath, the case flanked by four turned and thinly– reeded kamagong columns attached under the candle drawers and to the apron, the case set on an apron and supported by four stylized urn feet. The two front sides of the case are each decorated with a strip of carabao bone inlay delicately sectioned to simulate rope; it is an understated but crucial feature found only in the earlier and better–crafted Baliuag pieces during the middle of the nineteenth century and before. The four drawers are embellished with kamagong line inlays simulating late neoclassical panels; undulating kamagong line inlay, as in a festoon, connects the two kamagong knobs on each drawer which are in turn encircled by kamagong triangles. Under the four drawers is a base exactly like the top, adorned on its three edges by a pattern of bone lozenges centered by diamonds connected by lanite line inlay; as above, so below. Underneath the base is an apron embellished with a pattern of bone rectangles enclosed by kamagong line inlay over a pattern of kamagong line inlay with two bone diamonds enclosing it, as in a sandwich. The general look of this Baliuag comoda de poste is reminiscent of an American Federal commode. Given its unusually refined ornamentation, it is certainly a bespoke piece crafted for its first owner. Alintatao or satinwood is native to India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia. It once grew abundantly in dense and humid Philippine forests. It is a dense, close–grained golden yellow wood with beautiful figure when sanded and finished. Alintatao’s dense, close–graining, and golden yellow color resemble the more famous molave hardwood in appearance and behavior but not in texture. Ironically, the United States of America, not Madre Espana, was the major trading partner of Las Islas Filipinas during the 1800s. American trading houses --- Russell & Co, Heard & Co, Olyphant & Co, Perkins & Co, WS Wetmore & Co, et al --- set up their headquarters and bonded warehouses in Binondo and put up satellite offices and warehouses in the provinces. Probably due to American impetus or initiative, an operation producing furniture in the fashionable American Federal style but decorated with inlays of carabao bone and kamagong wood (a very few with nacre/mother–of–pearl) began from around 1800 in Baliuag, Bulacan. Chairs, armchairs, altar cabinets, commodes, dropfront desks, sewing tables, beds, wardrobes, small center tables, occasional tables, segmented dining tables, and sideboards all adorned with carabao bone and kamagong inlays were produced primarily for the local market, although many American and European expatriates purchased pieces which they brought back with them to their home countries. So strong was the American connection and inclination to Baliuag–style furniture that when the United States Army under General Lawton arrived in that town in 1899, the enterprising townsfolk displayed new and old Baliuag furniture at the San Agustin parish church patio, knowing full well the Americans would find them irresistible and purchase them. The townsfolk were not mistaken as the pieces were promptly acquired by the Americans, mostly the officials. Baliuag–style furniture was derived directly from American Federal style, its clean lines and symmetry took inspiration from the work of the English cabinetmakers Thomas Chippendale, George Hepplewhite, and Thomas Sheraton. They in turn were inspired by the French ebenistes to the Bourbon royals --- Jean–Francois Oeben, Jean–Henri Riesener, Martin Carlin, Bernard van Risenburgh II, Adam Weisweiler, et al. Ramon N. Villegas wrote about the Bulacan–Pampanga tradition of Philippine furniture, also known as the Baliwag style: “Representative of the Bulacan–Pampanga tradition, popularly known as the Baliwag style, is the sideboard, the extendable dining table with matching chairs, the chest of drawers, and the large comoda. The style makes use of narra and kamagong in combination, as well as inlaid ornamentation with bone and contrasting woods.” “The style may have originated from an atelier in the town of Baliwag, Bulacan, and diffused from there (up to Penaranda, Nueva Ecija, as Tinio points out; Penaranda must have been at the end of a riverine exchange system). The Bulacan–Pampanga tradition is based on neoclassicism as interpreted by the British furniture stylists, particularly Thomas Sheraton. Great Britain’s was by then the largest economic system in the world, and Bulacan–Pampanga sugar was passing through trading houses dealing with the English. Sojourns and education may have also been agencies through which British influence was absorbed. Some Filipinos are known to have studied in London and in Calcutta, India, which was a British colony then.” “The Bulacan–Pampanga tradition also produced case furniture with the same austere lines. There are examples of plain chests of drawers on bracket feet and with no decoration at all. Some have very restrained inlay work to outline the drawers. At the high point of the style, the drawers were ornamented with garlands of leaves and flowers and bordered with matang–pusa and hilis–kalamay.”