44. 'TIQUES TRIPPING, part II

Oh where, o where have all the Casa Tesoro antique shops gone? Seeing my shocked expression, the kind lady whose boutique now occupies Nora’s former place, directed me to Joncor Bldg., just across the street, where most of the shops have relocated since December. As usual, I was the last to know.

It was easy to find Atsing Nora’s new shop, she has the biggest space on the 2nd floor. After my hurried greetings, I surveyed her antique stock and came up with these quality pieces, both big and small. This 5 inch painted wooden Nino on a new manger is an excellent example of naive carving. I thought it was being sold individually, but it turns out he comes with a San Jose and Sta. Maria pair, thus driving the price up to 5 digits.

There’s also a 1950s San Isidro Labrador, from some religious commercial store..

But the more impressive pieces include this century-old talyado San Roque with traces of gilt on its carved robes. As is the common case with this santo, the dog and angel are missing..

I was interested in this consigned San Agustin head that was matched with a wrong size body. It reminded me of the San Agustin I chased around in Apalit, the one that got away and which I later found again for sale in a Manhattan shop! I choked when Atsing Nora quoted the price; I was interested in buying the santo head, not the whole Joncor Building! ;-).

One floor up, I chanced upon Bonnie having lunch, so I told him not to mind my nosey presence. The biggest item in his shop was the first thing that I saw: a magnificent century old, almost lifesize Crucified Christ that would have been perfect for a Semana Santa procession. And, it was in pristine condition!

The haunting face reminded me so much of Byzantine Christs.

I knew this was definitely way beyond my means, so I said a hurried goodbye and darted off outside, for a quick omelet lunch at Frendy's along Mabini St. I need to be more realistic! So, the next leg of my trip took me to good old Philtrade. I grabbed a cab which whisked me to the waiting antique pavilions, in no time at all. I worked the Philtrade shops systematically, hopping from one shop to another, and ocassionally chatting with familiar people manning the stores. Though the afternoon was s-l-o-o-w, I was quick to spot interesting finds!

At BERNALES ANTIQUE SHOP, I was shown this beautiful set of Virgin and Nino ivory heads and hands, still in a box!

I loved the carving, even if the faces had natural ivory striations. I imagined a future 5 footer Nstra. Snra. del Rosario for myself! (Reasonably priced too. Tantamount to 2 round trip tickets to the U.S. East Coast with pocket money to spare! ;-). In any case, I got hold of the store's contact numbers.

At BAYLOSIS SHOP, I saw this folksy santo grouping, heavily repainted, but charming, nevertheless. There was a Sta. Filomena, Virgen Antipolo, Maria, among others. Oh, but really not my cup of tea..

The sweltering heat was taking its toll on me and just as I was about ready to collapse, I found some energy to visit BLAS CORDOVA's ANTIQUE SHOP. Sometimes, Blas surprises with great finds from his Visayan forays.

Sure enough, I saw an unusual San Roque mounted on a cylindrical base, with 2 similar dovetailed bases for the dog and angel. Underneath the dirt and grime, I could see brilliant prolychromes of green, yellow and red. Blas told me the tableau came from Iloilo. I scrutinized it for a full 5 minutes and was smitten. To sweeten the pot, Blas further reduced the price from Ph P8,500 to PhP6,500. But I coaxed and cajoled. Being his VIC* (Valuable and Important Client, i.e. no bouncing checks to date), he further lopped off PhP500 from the price. Ano pa nga ba, e di..SOLD!

I took my San Roque home, gave it a sponge bath and a coat of wax, polished it..and here's how it looks now, occupying a place of honor on an already crowded table. Looks good to me!

And that's how I spent my Labor Day holiday. Tomorrow, it's back to the rat race. For us ordinary mortals, it's another day to make kayod..so I can fill my table with food...my cabinets with clothes..and my altar table with antique santos. Such is the cycle of my life. Until the next trip!

(1 May 2007)

43. 'TIQUES TRIPPING, part I

I knew this one day holiday was coming, so, as early as last week, I reserved May 1 as my LWL day (read: LiWaLiw, a code my friends in the office use when we want to do a bit of gallivanting, yes—even during office hours.) Heck, I need this break; I’ve been under tremendous stress lately, coping with work while dealing with sickness and death in the family.

What better way to recharge than to go antiquing, a hobby that I’ve put on hold for the last few months? I have not made the rounds of Manila shops lately, and so, on this day dedicated to workers, I decided to work the antique circuit and see what’s in stock (or what’s new, but then that would have been inappropriate).

Mind you, the intent of this trip was to de-stress, which, in my case, could be accomplished by feasting my eyes on objects of history, beauty and value (read: santos), nothing more. But of course, I am always noted for uttering those famous lost words. More often than not, after filling up my senses, I end up filling a bag with an antique purchase.

On this hot sweltering day, I took a cab and found myself in Manila’s antique enclave: the streets of Mabini, M.H. del Pilar, Padre Faura. It was just past 10 a.m. when I entered DEUS—it was open! Immediately, santos attack my senses and my heart palpitates..

 I was in luck. Noted director and owner Floy Quintos, an acquaintance, was around! He was rushing to Iloilo that day but still found time to show me interesting santos of all shapes and sizes. But the one that caught my eye was a seldom-seen antique Sta. Ines—our barrio patroness! Hmm, there was a sense of familiarity when I beheld this image. It’s chapel size, the body definitely old, the carving folksy—in fact, a tad too folksy for my taste.

  Next to it was a not-too-old, not-too-new ivory Del Rosario. Yours to bring home for PhP 200K! Any takers?

 On top a nearby altar table is this Raffy Lopez restored ivory Crucifixion scene in its original virina. Nice! Nice price too.

 So, okay, to the wooden santos then. This polychromed San Roque is a good piece. Heavy wood. Now if only it had a dog and angel…

 Floy also showed me an unusual miniscule all-ivory Nino sitting on a media luna (half moon) and dated 7-17-1959. A vintage piece, but still a rare representation of the Child Jesus. In my excitement, I forgot to take a photo. Sayang. I think, though, it will go to his private vault.

Next door to Floy is the shop of Nellie Enriquez, who sells more bagong luma (reproductions) now than genuine antique pieces. Nellie’s shop had always been here; I would go to her to buy new santo bases and for santo vestments repair. I found several items here that piqued my fancy: First, a complete 2 footer San Roque (albeit undressed), with a silver pukpok base, that unfortunately does not show in the picture.

 There's a repro San Sebastian, which also caught my eye:

 The glass escaparates yielded these small ivory Ninos, just around 3 inches long. One looked like a Nino Inocente for a Virgen Desamparados. The tag? PhP 4,500 each.

My heart skipped a beat when Nellie brought out a cardboard box where this well-carved head of a processional Veronica emerged! It was in great condition, encarna and glass tears intact, and well-carved. The only problem was that it was fairly new (dated 1982 incised at the nape, too recent for me!). The other bigger problem was the price (25K!—arrggh!, 5K more and I can have Nick Lugue carve a whole complete santo)..

I found out that this head was consigned by Nora Ignacio of SINAG TALA ANTIQUES, which explained why the price is so—impossible. I must go to Atsing Nora! But wait, BERNALES ANTIQUES nearby may have something worth seeing too. No santos, but I was shown these embroidered altar cloth pieces with Agnus Dei and floral motifs that offer a lot of possibilities.

The asking price of PhP70K was just too much for these frayed pieces that are threatening to disintegrate at a touch. Oh, well. Perhaps, it's really time to go to Atsing Nora, it's almost lunchtime anyway.

I’ve known Atsing Nora for over 20 years, back when I was a fresh graduate in my first job. She was the first to offer installment payments on santos I wanted to buy, and some of my initial pieces came from her shop.

But upon reaching Casa Tesoro, her shop was nowhere to be found! In fact, all the other antique shops housed in Casa Tesoro are gone!

(1 May 2007)

42. SIMON SAULOG GOT EBAYED

For many years now, my wish list of paintings includes that of the relatively unknown and underrated artist from Cavite, Simon Saulog. I first saw his work included in Filipiniana art collection of Jorge Vargas, and later read about his life in a past issue of Art Manila. He was an acclaimed painter in the 1950s, famed for his paintings of Filpino madonnas--only to die almost forgotten in his home province in November 1995.

Born in Malagasang in Imus in 1916, Simon exhibited extraordinary talent at a young age. Father Juan Saulog, a horse trader, would often find him sketching horses as Simon sat by their house’s ventanilla. The proud father would show his son’s sketches around, who, in turn would be amazed at his artistry.

His first mentor was a 17 year old neighbor, Gregorio de los Santos, who would watch him copy the likeness of Rizal from a very small postage stamp. Simon would follow suit—but he copied Rizal’s image from a bigger one peso bill.

Saulog enrolled at the University of the Philippines in 1931. When Fernando Amorsolo, Fabian de la Rosa and art teacher Candido Alcantara saw him draw, they described him as “isang pintor sa puso” ( a painter at heart). While in school, Saulog was won two medals and 8 honorable mentions for his works. He graduated in 1936, together with his classmates that included Angel Luna, Cesar Legaspi, Victor Loyola and Ricarte Purugganan.

Thereafter, he joined many art competitions, and it was in the post-war contests of the Art Association of the Philippines that his “Filipino Madonnas” first created a stir. They were described as “women of unspoiled, fragile purity, ideal of the countryside”.These qualities were the hallmarks of his works, and he belive that an artist does not paint sceneries, but paint stories.

Saulog, in his lifetime, won many awards, including taking second place for his painting “Offspring” in 1952. In 1956, he won first place in a UNESCO-sponsored art conest in New Delhi, India. He served as judge at the Shell Art Competition and exhibited his works in Bern Switzerland.

 In 1955, he also exhibited at the first sidewalk art of the Academy of Filipino artists and was featured in the First Southeast Asian Art exhibition in 1957. His works were soon available in the numerous galleries that dotted Mabini St. in Manila.

When a new breed of modernist artists emerged to take his place, Saulog went back to Cavite to work—and teach-- in obscurity. He suffered from poverty, remaining unnoticed in death. De La Salle University-Dasmariñas was the first to take note of Saulog’s contribution to Philippine art, celebrating his silver jubilee with an exhibit of his works at the Museo De La Salle. Despite this renewed awareness, Saulog paintings are rare and hard to come by in the market.

The first Saulog painting I saw for sale was in one uppity antique shop in a Manila mall. The second one was a beautiful pastel of a guitar-playing old man puffing a cigar at Galeria de las Islas in Intramuros. I was told there is a Saulog currently available at Tiendesitas for Php 45,000.

A local painting warehouse in Cubao yielded a more recent Saulog watercolor dated 1981 with a 35K price tag. The painting is entitled "Mariang Makiling.

An early Saulog portrait of an American woman is also up for grabs on ebay with a starting bid of $399—but there are no takers yet. The alien subject may be undesirable to many collectors.

 It was a surprise then to see a small Saulog piece offered on local ebay Philippines at a very reasonable price. It is a small piece, 12 x 17”, signed S. Saulog, “Imus, Cavite”, a signature tribute to his town and province.

The circa 1970s painting was dedicated to a certain Tony ( a lawyer-patron, I was later told), and it came from a private collection of an art-loving couple who have been silently unloading some other vintage pieces from their collection that included Anchetas, Laxas, Navarros, Custodios and J.D. Castro. Although bidding is slow on ebay.ph, bidders snapped most of the choice paintings.

As it turned out, I was the only bidder of the Saulog work, which was priced more than the Custodio and the Laxa pieces, but still within my budget.

Now, I am a proud owner of a Saulog painting, a small treasure as colorful and as affecting as the life lived by Cavite’s art maestro and, more importantly, a legacy that will ensure that he will always be remembered and never forgotten.