Provenance: Provenance: Pampanga Heirs of Capitan Joaquin Arnedo

ABOUT THE WORK

Capitan Joaquin Arnedo of Apalit, Pampanga was renowned in Pampanga for his hospitality. From the mid-19th century, hacenderos traveling to and from their haciendas in that province could expect to be welcomed and well fed if they found themselves benighted. It was in the 1880s, however, that the Capitan became famous for his boundless and extravagant hospitality, as visitors came upriver from Manila and stayed for a weekend of gambling, eating and dancing. One had to be personable and well-dressed to be welcomed and treated to superlative meals culminating in dancing in the newly-built ballroom that could accommodate twenty pairs. To accommodate the influx of guest, Don Joaquin built a mirror image of his house solely for the guests. The house thus became so huge, that the servants had to move from one house to another on bicycles. Many notables were entertained in the house. Foremost among them was the Grand Duke Alexis Romanov, brother of Tsar Alexander III of Russia, who was so impressed that he gifted the Arnedos with a huge dinner service or vajilla of Sevres porcelain the moment he returned to Paris. Another distinguished guest was a Japanese prince. It was the custom in Japan that, when entertaining a person of very high rank, everything he used was destroyed, so that it would not be soiled by one of lesser rank. Thus, the nobleman was very impressed when he saw that the porcelain, glassware and cutlery he used were immediately thrown into the river in front of the house. Unknown to him, there was a net below the water and everything was brought up intact, the moment the Japanese prince had departed! Even Jose Rizal was an Arnedo guest. In fact, when people were talking about him, he introduced himself as the subject of the conversation. All the Governors-General, Spanish and American, were entertained by the Arnedos, as well for the scale of entertainment went on to the next generation of Arnedos. To accommodate the number of guests, this sectional table with eight sections can be shortened or lengthened at will, depending on the number of guests tobe seated. One must remember that the table was always completely set with linen, porcelain, crystal and cutlery with the most important guest seated at the primer puesto or first seating. At the end of the meal, the table was reset for the segundopuesto or second seating at which the next important guests were fed. People of no consequence ate at the last seating, which could be after four pm. Each section of the table consists of a solid narra plank with molded edges. It rests on an apron supported at each corner by a turned, tapering leg and a vase-shaped capital. The shaft of each leg is carved with reeds.