Monstrance
Monstrance
Binondo, Manila and Bacaycay (Bacacay), Albay
dated 1789 (under the base)
80% Mexican solid silver (“dorado de fuego”/fire–gilded)
H: 19 3/4" (49 cm)
D: 8" (20 cm)
Opening bid: PHP 200,000
PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED COLLECTOR
ABOUT THE WORK
REMARKABLE ROCOCO MASTERPIECE
From the 18th Century
by AUGUSTO MARCELINO REYES GONZALEZ III
This spectacular monstrance of fire–gilded silver in fullblown Filipino rococo style from 1783 features a round glass luna surrounded by a sunburst (a Latin American style of monstrance which sought to replace indigenous sun worship with that of Jesus Christ symbolized by the sun) supported by a multitiered baluster mounted on a round base surrounded by ogee curves. The luna is surmounted by a cross and its frame is embellished with trademark Filipino rococo cartouches, curves and counter–curves, C–shaped volutes, seashells, festoons, garlands, leaves, and flowers; the entire frame is surrounded by stylized shells. The luna and the sunburst are supported by a cartouche with the face of a cherub surrounded by stylized leaves. The sphere of the baluster is adorned with four flanges of C–scrolls and counter C– scrolls. Underneath the sphere is an urn and its plinth terminating in the round base. The sphere, urn, plinth, and round base are all decorated with an extravagance of trademark Filipino rococo exuberance, sinuous curves, twisting and winding undulations, curves and counter– curves, C–shaped volutes, vegetal forms, palmettes, fleurettes in whimsical yet sophisticated asymmetry and dissymmetry. As an austere counterpoint, the base is surrounded by molded and grooved ogee curves. It is a visual feast: it is the highly–skilled Filipino (Sangley and indio) silversmith’s mastery of casting, soldering, riveting, punchwork, chasework (sinking), repousse work (raising), incising, and engraving on full display. The luna of glass and its round silvergilt frame at the center contains the Blessed Sacrament, the lunette (the crescent moon below) secures it.
The monstrance comes in two parts: the lunette and the sunburst are attached to a metal tube that slides with precision into the ornate base. The underside of the base is inscribed: “de la Yglecia del Pueblo de Bacaycay ano de 1783.” Bacaycay, presently Bacacay, is a town in Albay in the Bicol peninsula. The churches in the Franciscan territory of Bicol, Arzobispado de Caceres, waxed rich from the region’s trade in shipbuilding, abaca/hemp production, coffee, and coconuts and were able to afford luxurious wares such as this monstrance for their religious ceremonies.
In Roman Catholic religious ceremonies, a monstrance was used for the exposition and veneration of the Blessed Sacrament (The Body of Christ) and less frequently relics relating to Jesus Christ (True Cross, Crown of Thorns, True Likeness/Veil of Veronica, Three Nails, Holy Blood, Shroud, etc), the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. It was one piece in a panoply of magnificent ecclesiastical silver used for religious ceremonies in affluent churches/ parishes throughout Las Islas Filipinas, from the Spanish colonization in 1571 to its end in 1898 and even beyond to the misinterpretations of Vatican II in 1965, when many of them were deconsecrated and decommissioned and landed in private collections and later museums, and worse, in the hands of gold and silver recyclers at the crucibles of Meycauayan, Bulacan --- chalices, ciboriums, patens, communion cups, cruets, trays, sacras (prayer cards), salvers, incense boats, thuribulums (censers), aspersoriums & aspergillums (holy water buckets & sprinklers), ramilletes (silver bouquets), vases, candlesticks, candelabra, processional crucifix, guidons (processional banners), etc.
Notable among those churches/parishes were: the seven churches of Intramuros --- La Inmaculada Concepcion (Catedral de Manila), San Agustin de Hipona (Agustinos), Santo Domingo de Guzman (Dominicanos), San Francisco de Asis (Franciscanos), San Nicolas de Tolentino (Recoletos), San Ignacio de Loyola (Jesuitas), Nuestra Senora de Lourdes (Capuchinos); Nuestra Senora del Santisimo Rosario/San Gabriel Arcangel (Binondo); Nuestra Senora del Pilar (Santa Cruz, Manila); San Juan Bautista (Quiapo); Santo Nino (Tondo); San Bartolome Apostol (Malabon); Nuestra Senora de Guia (Ermita); Nuestra Senora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Antipolo); San Gregorio Magno (Majayjay, Laguna); San Martin de Torres (Taal, Batangas); San Sebastian Martir (Lipa, Batangas); Santo Nino (Cebu); Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria/Santa Isabel de Ungria (Jaro, Iloilo).
The high point of excellence in Filipino ecclesiastical silver was during the 150 years spanning 1700– 1850. Of course, beautiful, even exquisite, pieces of silverware had been produced from 80% Mexican and Latin American silver coins by Sangley and indio artisans from 1571 onwards (Las Islas Filipinas had no silver mines and no silver, but the islands yielded bountiful gold), but it was from 1700 that Filipino pieces became comparable in design, craftsmanship, and sophistication to the best French, English, and German models as the Sangley and indio artisans wholeheartedly engaged and interpreted the European baroque, rococo, and neoclassical styles. The Chinese were longtime experts at fire–gilding or mercury–gilding, and so were the Europeans (French, British, Germans, Spanish) with the equivalent “dorado de fuego.” They taught the wondrous but dangerous technique to the indio artisans. Fire–gilding or mercury– gilding was a technique frequently used by the ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Chinese. It involved mixing gold with mercury into a paste to coat an object, usually silver (“vermeil”) or bronze (“ormolu”), then heating it to a high temperature in a furnace where the mercury would evaporate, leaving a beautiful and extremely durable gold surface on the object. The downside of “dorado de fuego” was that the mercury heavy metal was easily inhaled by the artisan, causing mercury poisoning --- severe neurological symptoms and eventually death.
This magnificent silvergilt monstrance from 1783 is an example and a tribute to the excellence of eighteenth– century Filipino ecclesiastical silver. Pieces of this highest quality are usually found in the collections of the San Agustin Church and Convent, Intramuros Administration, Arzobispado de Nueva Segovia (Vigan), Arzobispado de San Fernando (San Fernando, Pampanga), Arzobispado del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus (Cebu), Paulino and Hetty Que Collection, Richard and Sandra Lopez Collection, Atty Jose Maria Trenas Collection.
Lot 143 of the Leon Gallery auction on June 17, 2023. Please see leon-gallery.com/auctions/The-Spectacular-Mid-Year-Auctio... for more information.
Monstrance
Monstrance
Binondo, Manila and Bacaycay (Bacacay), Albay
dated 1789 (under the base)
80% Mexican solid silver (“dorado de fuego”/fire–gilded)
H: 19 3/4" (49 cm)
D: 8" (20 cm)
Opening bid: PHP 200,000
PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED COLLECTOR
ABOUT THE WORK
REMARKABLE ROCOCO MASTERPIECE
From the 18th Century
by AUGUSTO MARCELINO REYES GONZALEZ III
This spectacular monstrance of fire–gilded silver in fullblown Filipino rococo style from 1783 features a round glass luna surrounded by a sunburst (a Latin American style of monstrance which sought to replace indigenous sun worship with that of Jesus Christ symbolized by the sun) supported by a multitiered baluster mounted on a round base surrounded by ogee curves. The luna is surmounted by a cross and its frame is embellished with trademark Filipino rococo cartouches, curves and counter–curves, C–shaped volutes, seashells, festoons, garlands, leaves, and flowers; the entire frame is surrounded by stylized shells. The luna and the sunburst are supported by a cartouche with the face of a cherub surrounded by stylized leaves. The sphere of the baluster is adorned with four flanges of C–scrolls and counter C– scrolls. Underneath the sphere is an urn and its plinth terminating in the round base. The sphere, urn, plinth, and round base are all decorated with an extravagance of trademark Filipino rococo exuberance, sinuous curves, twisting and winding undulations, curves and counter– curves, C–shaped volutes, vegetal forms, palmettes, fleurettes in whimsical yet sophisticated asymmetry and dissymmetry. As an austere counterpoint, the base is surrounded by molded and grooved ogee curves. It is a visual feast: it is the highly–skilled Filipino (Sangley and indio) silversmith’s mastery of casting, soldering, riveting, punchwork, chasework (sinking), repousse work (raising), incising, and engraving on full display. The luna of glass and its round silvergilt frame at the center contains the Blessed Sacrament, the lunette (the crescent moon below) secures it.
The monstrance comes in two parts: the lunette and the sunburst are attached to a metal tube that slides with precision into the ornate base. The underside of the base is inscribed: “de la Yglecia del Pueblo de Bacaycay ano de 1783.” Bacaycay, presently Bacacay, is a town in Albay in the Bicol peninsula. The churches in the Franciscan territory of Bicol, Arzobispado de Caceres, waxed rich from the region’s trade in shipbuilding, abaca/hemp production, coffee, and coconuts and were able to afford luxurious wares such as this monstrance for their religious ceremonies.
In Roman Catholic religious ceremonies, a monstrance was used for the exposition and veneration of the Blessed Sacrament (The Body of Christ) and less frequently relics relating to Jesus Christ (True Cross, Crown of Thorns, True Likeness/Veil of Veronica, Three Nails, Holy Blood, Shroud, etc), the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. It was one piece in a panoply of magnificent ecclesiastical silver used for religious ceremonies in affluent churches/ parishes throughout Las Islas Filipinas, from the Spanish colonization in 1571 to its end in 1898 and even beyond to the misinterpretations of Vatican II in 1965, when many of them were deconsecrated and decommissioned and landed in private collections and later museums, and worse, in the hands of gold and silver recyclers at the crucibles of Meycauayan, Bulacan --- chalices, ciboriums, patens, communion cups, cruets, trays, sacras (prayer cards), salvers, incense boats, thuribulums (censers), aspersoriums & aspergillums (holy water buckets & sprinklers), ramilletes (silver bouquets), vases, candlesticks, candelabra, processional crucifix, guidons (processional banners), etc.
Notable among those churches/parishes were: the seven churches of Intramuros --- La Inmaculada Concepcion (Catedral de Manila), San Agustin de Hipona (Agustinos), Santo Domingo de Guzman (Dominicanos), San Francisco de Asis (Franciscanos), San Nicolas de Tolentino (Recoletos), San Ignacio de Loyola (Jesuitas), Nuestra Senora de Lourdes (Capuchinos); Nuestra Senora del Santisimo Rosario/San Gabriel Arcangel (Binondo); Nuestra Senora del Pilar (Santa Cruz, Manila); San Juan Bautista (Quiapo); Santo Nino (Tondo); San Bartolome Apostol (Malabon); Nuestra Senora de Guia (Ermita); Nuestra Senora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Antipolo); San Gregorio Magno (Majayjay, Laguna); San Martin de Torres (Taal, Batangas); San Sebastian Martir (Lipa, Batangas); Santo Nino (Cebu); Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria/Santa Isabel de Ungria (Jaro, Iloilo).
The high point of excellence in Filipino ecclesiastical silver was during the 150 years spanning 1700– 1850. Of course, beautiful, even exquisite, pieces of silverware had been produced from 80% Mexican and Latin American silver coins by Sangley and indio artisans from 1571 onwards (Las Islas Filipinas had no silver mines and no silver, but the islands yielded bountiful gold), but it was from 1700 that Filipino pieces became comparable in design, craftsmanship, and sophistication to the best French, English, and German models as the Sangley and indio artisans wholeheartedly engaged and interpreted the European baroque, rococo, and neoclassical styles. The Chinese were longtime experts at fire–gilding or mercury–gilding, and so were the Europeans (French, British, Germans, Spanish) with the equivalent “dorado de fuego.” They taught the wondrous but dangerous technique to the indio artisans. Fire–gilding or mercury– gilding was a technique frequently used by the ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Chinese. It involved mixing gold with mercury into a paste to coat an object, usually silver (“vermeil”) or bronze (“ormolu”), then heating it to a high temperature in a furnace where the mercury would evaporate, leaving a beautiful and extremely durable gold surface on the object. The downside of “dorado de fuego” was that the mercury heavy metal was easily inhaled by the artisan, causing mercury poisoning --- severe neurological symptoms and eventually death.
This magnificent silvergilt monstrance from 1783 is an example and a tribute to the excellence of eighteenth– century Filipino ecclesiastical silver. Pieces of this highest quality are usually found in the collections of the San Agustin Church and Convent, Intramuros Administration, Arzobispado de Nueva Segovia (Vigan), Arzobispado de San Fernando (San Fernando, Pampanga), Arzobispado del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus (Cebu), Paulino and Hetty Que Collection, Richard and Sandra Lopez Collection, Atty Jose Maria Trenas Collection.
Lot 143 of the Leon Gallery auction on June 17, 2023. Please see leon-gallery.com/auctions/The-Spectacular-Mid-Year-Auctio... for more information.