Ivory Crucifix
Ivory Crucifix
2nd Half of the 18th Century
Hispano-Philippine
Ivory, Kamagong, Lanite and Silver
ivory: H:18” x L:13” x W:3 1/2” (46 cm x 33 cm x 9 cm)
crucifix: H:42” x L:17 1/2” x W:4” (107 cm x 44 cm x 10 cm)
Opening bid: P 700,000
Provenance:
Made in a Workshop in the Parian
Manila
Lot 117 of the Leon Gallery auction on 18 February 2017. Please see www.leon-gallery.com for more details.
Ivory santos were one of the major luxury items being exported from Manila to Acapulco in Mexico during the entire period of the Galleon Trade. They were in great demand in Mexico, where wills of the major families are replete with numerous ivory images, all described as ‘obra Filipina’ or Philippine-made. Numerous pieces also made their way across Mexico along the Camino de China to Vera Cruz on the Atlantic Coast, where they were shipped to Cadiz in Spain. Many were brought into the Peninsula by officials and monks returning after their tour of duty in the colony, but others were sent as trade goods.
Every Philippine house during the colonial period had an altar with a crucifix that measured at least a foot in height. The more affluent households had crucifixes with the corpus carved in ivory and everyone tried to outdo each other in the size and richness of the ornaments attached to it.
This piece is not of ordinary size and has an ivory corpus beautifully carved in the Cristo Moribundo pose with its head relaxed in death with the mouth partially open. The face is very oriental in aspect, with the hair and beard very finely detailed in typical Philippine religious carvings of the colonial period. The hands and feet of the statue are well carved and in perfect condition and the corpus is carved with a perizonium or loincloth, locally called a bahag or tapis and is attached to a kamagong cross. The latter, bordered on each side by a line inlay of lanite, is embellished with ivory terminals called cantoneras and an INRI of the same material. A hole below the feet of the corpus indicates the place where a skull, probably an ivory one, was previously attached but has since been lost.
The image of the crucified Christ wears a silver-gilt crown of thorns and has three potencias, the rays emanating from the pate that symbolize Christ’s potencies or power. The form of the potencia following those made in the 2nd half of the 18th century with rays emanating from an oval cartouche formed by foliate C-scrolls.
-Martin I. Tinio, Jr.
Ivory Crucifix
Ivory Crucifix
2nd Half of the 18th Century
Hispano-Philippine
Ivory, Kamagong, Lanite and Silver
ivory: H:18” x L:13” x W:3 1/2” (46 cm x 33 cm x 9 cm)
crucifix: H:42” x L:17 1/2” x W:4” (107 cm x 44 cm x 10 cm)
Opening bid: P 700,000
Provenance:
Made in a Workshop in the Parian
Manila
Lot 117 of the Leon Gallery auction on 18 February 2017. Please see www.leon-gallery.com for more details.
Ivory santos were one of the major luxury items being exported from Manila to Acapulco in Mexico during the entire period of the Galleon Trade. They were in great demand in Mexico, where wills of the major families are replete with numerous ivory images, all described as ‘obra Filipina’ or Philippine-made. Numerous pieces also made their way across Mexico along the Camino de China to Vera Cruz on the Atlantic Coast, where they were shipped to Cadiz in Spain. Many were brought into the Peninsula by officials and monks returning after their tour of duty in the colony, but others were sent as trade goods.
Every Philippine house during the colonial period had an altar with a crucifix that measured at least a foot in height. The more affluent households had crucifixes with the corpus carved in ivory and everyone tried to outdo each other in the size and richness of the ornaments attached to it.
This piece is not of ordinary size and has an ivory corpus beautifully carved in the Cristo Moribundo pose with its head relaxed in death with the mouth partially open. The face is very oriental in aspect, with the hair and beard very finely detailed in typical Philippine religious carvings of the colonial period. The hands and feet of the statue are well carved and in perfect condition and the corpus is carved with a perizonium or loincloth, locally called a bahag or tapis and is attached to a kamagong cross. The latter, bordered on each side by a line inlay of lanite, is embellished with ivory terminals called cantoneras and an INRI of the same material. A hole below the feet of the corpus indicates the place where a skull, probably an ivory one, was previously attached but has since been lost.
The image of the crucified Christ wears a silver-gilt crown of thorns and has three potencias, the rays emanating from the pate that symbolize Christ’s potencies or power. The form of the potencia following those made in the 2nd half of the 18th century with rays emanating from an oval cartouche formed by foliate C-scrolls.
-Martin I. Tinio, Jr.