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)
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