Altar Table
Altar Table
Late 18th Century
Narra and Wrought-Iron
H:33” x L:44” x W:23 1/4” (84 cm x 112 cm x 59 cm)
Starting bid: P 300,000
Provenance:
Abra Province
The J. Antonio Mendoza y Gonzalez Collection
This narra altar table is of a type seldom seen and is unusual because of its small size. The table stands on four Spanish feet supporting a platform, on which, extremely fine and delicate cabriole legs resting at the corners. The shoulder of each front leg is incised with an eared oval face with a shallow carved neck cloth running halfway down the leg that ends with a trifid foot.
An apron with a jig-sawed, curvilinear lower edge runs around all four sides of the mesa altar. A flat molding follows its outline of ogee curves and cusps that from lambrequins. A hole is drilled above each cusp, where the lambrequins join each other.
The upright frames of the carcass are decorated on the exposed sides with a reed molding on either side of a shallow concave surface. The single, wide drawer in front is framed with a concave molding all around and has a pair of wrought-iron handles attached to a ring and a boss. At the center of the drawer is an incised carving of a double-headed eagle, the symbol of the Augustinian Order that administered the Ilocos Region during the Spanish Period.
The table top consists of a floating narra panel with a lap jointed, instead of a mortise and tenon jointed, frame. This type of construction shows that the piece was made by a craftsman who practiced his trade away from the urban centers.
-Martin I. Tinio, Jr
Lot 19 of the Leon Gallery auction on 11 June 2016. For more details, please see leon-gallery.com/v2/gallery/AuctionData-23-Spectacular-Mi...
Altar Table
Altar Table
Late 18th Century
Narra and Wrought-Iron
H:33” x L:44” x W:23 1/4” (84 cm x 112 cm x 59 cm)
Starting bid: P 300,000
Provenance:
Abra Province
The J. Antonio Mendoza y Gonzalez Collection
This narra altar table is of a type seldom seen and is unusual because of its small size. The table stands on four Spanish feet supporting a platform, on which, extremely fine and delicate cabriole legs resting at the corners. The shoulder of each front leg is incised with an eared oval face with a shallow carved neck cloth running halfway down the leg that ends with a trifid foot.
An apron with a jig-sawed, curvilinear lower edge runs around all four sides of the mesa altar. A flat molding follows its outline of ogee curves and cusps that from lambrequins. A hole is drilled above each cusp, where the lambrequins join each other.
The upright frames of the carcass are decorated on the exposed sides with a reed molding on either side of a shallow concave surface. The single, wide drawer in front is framed with a concave molding all around and has a pair of wrought-iron handles attached to a ring and a boss. At the center of the drawer is an incised carving of a double-headed eagle, the symbol of the Augustinian Order that administered the Ilocos Region during the Spanish Period.
The table top consists of a floating narra panel with a lap jointed, instead of a mortise and tenon jointed, frame. This type of construction shows that the piece was made by a craftsman who practiced his trade away from the urban centers.
-Martin I. Tinio, Jr
Lot 19 of the Leon Gallery auction on 11 June 2016. For more details, please see leon-gallery.com/v2/gallery/AuctionData-23-Spectacular-Mi...