San Rafael Arcangel

San Rafael Arcangel / Saint Raphael the Archangel

 

Santa Cruz or Binondo, Manila second quarter of the

nineteenth century (1825–50)

ivory, gold, silver, baticuling wood, silk velvet, silvergilt threads

 

head to toe: 12" (30 cm)

left to right arm to arm: 6" (16 cm)

chest to back: 2" (5 cm)

base: H: 9 1/2" (24 cm) D: 10 1/2" (26 cm)

 

Opening bid: PHP 800,000

 

Provenance: An old Cavite family

 

ABOUT THE WORK

 

EXQUISITE ICONOGRAPHY: Loaves, Fish, Coronets and Catmon Flowers

 

by AUGUSTO MARCELINO REYES GONZALEZ III

 

This compelling ivory statuette of “San Rafael Arcangel” comes from the cherished altar of an old Cavite trading, shipping, and logistics family and was likely acquired originally from a “taller” workshop of religious images in Binondo or Santa Cruz in Manila. The young Archangel is depicted wearing an exquisite coronet of flowers and leaves executed in chased 14 karat gold and filigree wirework; an unusual blonde wig of Victorian sausage curls; silvergilt repousse wings; vestments embroidered with “catmon” flowers, buds, and leaves in silvergilt threads, along with appliquees of cherubs and leaves in “dorado de fuego” fire–gilded solid silver; a lavishly embroidered center stole with vase, tree–of–life, “boteh” paisley form, and large flower motifs one on top of the other, the top vase/cartouche with the unmistakable Carmelite crest featuring Mount Carmel in Palestine and the three stars symbolizing the three periods of the history of the Order; San Rafael’s attributes of a basket with loaves (an opulent chased and repousse 14 karat gold basket with “catmon” floral and “lubi–lubi” foliar details with ivory loaves) on the left hand and a simple silvergilt staff with a fish on the right hand; and gilded feet to simulate shoes/slippers. The gilded “peana” base is also exceedingly elegant: four separately–carved acanthus leaves emanate from the midsection of the urn and act as bracket supports for the upper section of the peana. It is a feast for a devotee’s, a connoisseur’s, and a collector’s discriminating eyes.

 

This exquisite San Rafael Arcangel is outstanding because despite its being a “de vestir” (dressed) image with the expected ivory head, hands, and perhaps feet, the entire statuette is actually made of ivory. It is thought that it was probably created at a transitional time from 1800–1850 when solid ivory tabletop images, which were in entirely different styles (baroque, rococo, and neoclassical) and consumed more of the luxurious and expensive elephant tusk, were for economic reasons finally being overlooked in favor of the more sustainable albeit baroque “de vestir” ones with only the heads, hands, and occasionally even the feet of ivory. However, one must be reminded that all kinds of classical Roman Catholic religious images --- the life–sized hardwood statues for the “retablo” altars, the smaller wooden statues for domestic veneration, the luxurious solid ivory statuettes intended for the affluent religious orders in Intramuros and for export to Madre Espana, Mexico, and the Latin American colonies, the life–sized processional as well as tabletop ivory “de vestir” images --- were already being produced simultaneously by the Sangley artisans and their indio assistants since the formalization of the Spanish conquest of these islands in 1571: the establishment of the settlements of Cebu (1565) and Manila (1571).

 

There are tabletop ivory “de vestir” images at the Museo Oriental in Valladolid, Spain that are documented to have come from Manila in the late 1500s. The famous “de vestir” processional image of the “Nuestra Senora del Santisimo Rosario”/ “La Naval de Manila”/Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary at the Santo Domingo church dates from 1587–93. Three extant examples from the late–1700s to the mid– 1800s illustrating the collective transition in preference from solid ivory to “de vestir” come to mind: 1) An unbelievable “Calvario” tableau of 12” inches/30.48 cm tall solid ivory figures (Cristo Expirante, Mater Dolorosa, San Juan Evangelista, and Santa Maria Magdalena), late eighteenth century (1775–1800), Ex Coll: Maximino Molo Agustin Paterno family, Santa Cruz, Manila, currently in the Paulino and Hetty Que Collection; 2) A tabletop “Nuestra Senora del Pilar” with ivory head and hands, Nino Jesus with ivory head and hands, the linear body painted off–white and embellished with painted scrollwork (in gold leaf) to mimic a solid ivory piece from the eighteenth century, mid–nineteenth century (1850s), Ex Coll: Maximino Molo Agustin Paterno family, Santa Cruz, Manila; 3) A relatively big “de vestir” statuette of a kneeling “Santa Maria Magdalena Penitente,” 1860s–70s, in its high quality and singular style thought to have come from the taller of escultor Leoncio Asuncion y Molo, sold years ago at a major Leon Gallery auction, currently in an important Cavite collection.

 

The opulent overall concept, excellent craftsmanship, prodigal use of ivory, and exquisite quality of the goldwork point to the distinct possibility of this “San Rafael Arcangel” piece originating from the “taller” workshop of the early maestro Leoncio Asuncion y Molo in Santa Cruz, Manila (1813–1888). The preeminent sculptor was known to have produced magnificent and memorable religious figures life–sized and tabletop in ivory and wood (“marfil y madera”) with singular expressions, full gestures, and perfect, lean anatomies (almost ballet dancer–like) which set them apart from the undistinguished work of other sculptors of religious images. Considered as Leoncio Asuncion’s magnum opus was a spectacular, life–sized, processional tableau of “La Tercera Caida”/The Third Fall of Jesus Christ --- featuring a burdened “Jesus Nazareno” collapsing from a heavy cross, a helpful Simon of Cyrene, three angry Jews, a trumpeteer, two Roman foot soldiers, including another Roman soldier astride a horse --- which was brought out in procession during the “Semana Santa”/Holy Week rites in Santa Cruz, Manila from the 1860s until World War II, when it was assumed destroyed during the Liberation of Manila in February 1945. Leoncio Asuncion y Molo came from an artistic family with affluent origins in the Molo de San Agustin clan of Santa Cruz, Manila --- descended from a migrant Chinese apothecary in the late 1700s --- and were closely related to the Molo Agustin Paterno family, one of the richest, most highly–educated, and most cultured in 1800s Manila.

 

In the Roman Catholic tradition, “San Rafael Arcangel” Saint Raphael the Archangel is one of The Three Archangels who are specifically named in the Bible. In the larger Christian traditions, The Seven Archangels stand before the Throne of God: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Barrachiel, Judiel, Uriel, and Sealtiel. Raphael is the “Divine Healer.” In the Deuterocanonical (“Second Canon”) books of the Roman Catholic Bible (called Apocrypha by the Protestants), in the books of Tobit and 1 Enoch, is the story of the Archangel Raphael and how he guided and assisted Tobias the righteous father and Tobias the righteous son who were exiled to Persia during the Assyrian conquest, 800 years before Christ. Tobias the father sent Tobias the son to Ragues, a distant city, to retrieve substantial money lent to a relative, with Azarias (the Archangel Raphael) as his companion. The trip was dangerous at every turn. At the Tigris river, a huge fish tried to devour Tobias the son but Azarias prevented it. At the city of Rages, at the house of his relative Raguel, Tobias the son was engaged to the former’s beautiful daughter Sara. Seven suitors had died before him; Azarias assured him that he alone would be spared. Tobias the son married the beautiful Sara, daughter of his relative Raguel. The journey back home ended up happily with Tobias the son and his wife Sara, and companion Azarias, returning to Tobias the father, who had become blind from pigeon droppings. Azarias instructed Tobias the son to cure his father’s blindness with the gall of the huge fish which tried to devour him; Tobias the father was promptly healed of his blindness. Thus, the iconography of Saint Raphael the Archangel with the staff, the fish, loaves of bread, and the young Tobias.

 

The most famous image of San Rafael Arcangel in the islands is the patron saint of Calaca city, Batangas: It is dark–colored --- the only exposed wooden parts are the head and hands --- whether from dark wood or from the patina of nearly two centuries, it is not known; stands about 12” inches/30.48 cm high (without its pedestal); wears a repousse silver coronet; is dressed entirely in 80 % Mexican solid silver repousse with floral and foliar motifs in the style of the 1860s–70s; depicts the saint with his attributes of a basket of loaves set on cloth on his left hand and a staff with a fish with his right hand; wears silver boots. The image dates stylistically from the 1830s.

 

Aside from Calaca city, Batangas, other parishes with San Rafael Arcangel as the titular patron are in Linmansangan, Binalonan, Pangasinan; San Rafael, Tarlac city; Mabiga, Mabalacat, Pampanga; San Rafael, Lubao, Pampanga; San Rafael, Macabebe, Pampanga; Park avenue, Pasay city; Balut island, Tondo, Manila; San Rafael, Rodriguez, Rizal province; Lucena City, Quezon province; and Real, Quezon province. This exquisite ivory San Rafael Arcangel, a magnificent example of Philippine religious art, is on par with the renowned holdings of the National Museum, the Intramuros Administration, as well as the AERA Collection at the Villa Escudero, the Paulino and Hetty Que Collection, and the Mario and Mimi Que Collection.

 

Lot 142 of the Leon Gallery auction on June 17, 2023. Please see leon-gallery.com/auctions/The-Spectacular-Mid-Year-Auctio... for more information.

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