Provenance: Private Collection, Masbate

ABOUT THE WORK

It was difficult to find fresh flowers to decorate altars for the fiesta during the Spanish Colonial Period, because there were no flower farms like we have today. If color was wanted, paper flowers had to be painstakingly made by hand, using expensive papel de hapon, which came all the way from Japan. In order to have decorations whenever needed, ramilletes, or bunches, of leaves and flowers were carved out of wood. They usually came in a set of six and were made to portray a vase of flowers that were gilded and painted in polychrome for a rich and colorful effect. Richer parishes had them done in silver, the stylized vase of flowers embossed and chased in fanciful designs that were designed to reflect as much of the light as possible. This pair of ramilletes originally belonged to a set of six, and was made to resemble a vase of flowers containing a bouquet of natural-looking leaves and flowers. The stylized vase of embossed and chased silver sheets was originally applied to a molave back with a brace and a wide base for stability. When the ramilletes were sold, the wooden backs were discarded, as they had no intrinsic value. The buyer then had the silver attached to a kamagong backing to give it a rich, clean, and stable look. The ramillete shows the influence of the Empire Style. The style was known as the Fernando Septimo Style in Spain and its colonies, Ferdinand VII being the king of Spain during that period. It became popular in the Philippines, when ships began to arrive directly from Europe after the lifting of the economic trade embargo after the Napoleonic Wars. The piece is made of beaten silver made from melted peso coins. The base is wrought in the shape of a vase with a knopf and a wide flared foot. The sides of the foot are bordered with an arm-like pattern with stylized leaves at the elbows. The large oval knopf is in the form of a boss surrounded by a flattened molding edged with stylized leaves. The shield-shaped body, bordered by a molding edged with stylized leaves, has simulated drapery gathered at the corners of the shoulders and is surmounted by a simulated cup. The body of the vase is plain in order to present a large shiny surface to reflect the candlelight from the altar. Springing from the top of the vase is a vertical silver branch to which are attached, at equidistant levels, horizontal branches in the form of flattened silver wires that curl to form a large scroll at the outer ends. To these branches are attached clumps of smaller wires, each ending in a realistically formed leaf or a tiny embossed flower, all done in silver. Interspersed here and there are larger flowers attached to silver springs that make them en tremblant. The making of this kind of silver work, known as feligrana, is time-consuming and laborious. Each piece is cut out from silver sheets, not with a scissor or a chisel, which causes the cut edges to curl, but by the use of a hand drill and a wire-saw that leave the edges flat. It was usually done on jewelry, particularly in making combs, and its use on large pieces is really an extravagance. -Martin I. Tinio, Jr.