Things rare and beautiful in Manila: the heirloom

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Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: Things rare and beautiful in Manila: the heirloom
Creator: Read, George
Language: English
Year: 1928
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Fulltext: April, 1928 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 7 Things Rare and Beautiful in Manila: The Heirloom By Mrs. George Read To the acquisitive connoisseur, amateur as well as professional, Spanish antiques in the Philippines have an augmented value. Follow ing the Versailles conference of June 1919, when every unfettered individual in the United States rushed off to Europe to view the battlefields Antique Chair at The Heirloom. See text and to check off everything from Montmatre to Verdun, collectors became the opportunists of the general confusion. The inroads they made upon the cherished treasures cf museums, churches, precious collections public and private, brought down upon the cosmic American head the ingenuous epithet, Spoliators. Though 11 Duce is understood to have levied a similar restriction in Italy, it was in Spain that the first steps were taken to prevent the exporta tion of objects of art without the permission of the Committee of the Bureau of Fine Arts. While there are audacious desperadoes in the game of diplomatically wresting beautiful objects from their possessors and bestowing them whither they will, it takes more than a bit of dcing today in the land cf Primo de Rivera. More power to the timely sojourner in the Philippines where the highways and byways shelter works of art, of greater and lesser degree, either brought originally from Spain or inspired by artists and artist-craftsmen of the mother country. One of the most felicitous displays of Spanish objects d’art in Manila is the Welch-Haughwout collection at The Heirloom, calle Mabini. A great many of the objects are for sale. Some are there purely to be looked at and enjoyed and not for any consideration to be wrested from the owners. Some few things are temporarily loaned. One day I was looking rather sketchily at a book by George F. Kunz on The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, dedicated to J. Pierpont Mcrgan. The cover design was of a pair of turquoise earrings. The clasps were a sort of generic fleur-de-lis, and the pendants followed a similar design although somewhat elongated. Where had they come from? Russia? Egypt? They were the type of jewels one might associate with the adventures of a Marco Polo. If I had had time, I should have searched the book for a description of them. However, the jewels themselves were not far to seek. That same afternoon, for the first time I walked into The Heirloom, and there lay the earrings, supreme and sole upon a chest of antique tindalo. Against the flat black surface of the wood the pure, cool, proud color of the matrix was unforgettable. “Yes,” said Mrs. Haughwout, “they are the ones displayed on the cover of the George Kunz’s book. From Tibet.” From the viewpoint of the antiquarian, per haps the two doors of carved molave, shown in the background of accompanying illustrations, are the rarest objects in the collection. They were found in the first church and monastery built in Manila, the Augustinian, completed in 1619 under the celebrated Fray Antonio Herrera, son of the architect of the Escorial, who followed a design furnished by his celebrated father. The doors, each a solid piece, are in ex cellent condi tion; the elabor ate carvings of tropical birds, fruits and con ventional folia tions which adorn the 28 squares hardly bear a nick or blemish. The escutcheon of the Augustinians adorns two of the top squa res: the pierced heart, the shovel hat, the mitre, crozier and Bible. No trace of wicked var nish has ever marred the sur face of the seas oned and beau tifully resistant wood. It retains its original soft An Heirloom Jar. Sec text light-brown color, embracing the light yet not refracting too much of it. A rich yet unobtrusive decoration, beautiful enough to have a museum built around it. The superb ecclesiastic chair of gilded narra is 300 years old and might well have come from the same cathedral that housed the doors. Its companion chair, in duplicate, is also here. Their once cardinal-red upholstering has natural ly deferred to time but it would be criminal not to accept them as they stand. These chairs are museum pieces, too eloquent for any ordinary Antique Pedestals at The Heirloom. See text usage. They are treasures which bear witness to a royal milieu as effectively as if they could, speak. Ornate? Undeniably, but too nobly graceful and suave to be oppressive. Consider ed historically one must respect their right to lean toward the florid. They are of the period when Renaissance Italy, toward its decline, had come definitely to Seville, at that time the art center of Spain. El Greco, who died in 1614, was one of the chan nels through which the influence of Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples—but above all Venice—had poured. He had gone to Venice to paint under Titian, which meant, vicariously, Tintoretto. It was the florescent in painting, the rococo in architectural decor which had been transplanted to Spanish building-stone, wood work, walls and canvases. But it was a deca dence that fell into the hands of masters; a deca dence that was to become infused with new vigor springing from the physical health and zest for life of the Spanish people. Velasquez brings this period to its grand climacteric. Velasquez, not content simply to represent an anemic court, SQCDNY MOTOR OILS AND GASOLINE At Service Stations and dealers on all motor roads The standard of excellence which oil refiners have long striven to achieve Standard Oil Company of New York IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL April, 1928 must with dramatic insight and matchless skill portray the whole epoch. Certainly priceless tradition attaches itself to these old pieces at The Heirloom. The handsome escort lamps shown in one of the illustrations were, according to creditable tradition, carried in the inaugural pro cession of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, Philip Il’s adelantado to the Philippines, perhaps on May 19, 1571, the day of the formal founding of Manila. It is amazing that these lamps never got into the hands of any of the castellans of the royal governor’s palace or of Malacanang, and especially amazing that they escaped the tyrant Venegas; but their long histcry is un known, after all, and on the night Venegas fell the guard may have snatched these lamps from the newel posts of the palace to light his way to prison in Fort Santiago. Some lingering spark of decency in him might have led him to say, “Dogs! Preserve the lamps!” Of the two charming figures in polychrome wood only one remains. If not the more grace ful and light, perhaps a more significant interest compensates for the lack of delicate wings, so energized they seem to be upon the point of flight. This quieter figure is the blind Santa Lucia, in the characteristic act of bearing her eyes, the price of her martyrdom, upon a little platter. There are legends without number woven around this heroic saint, originating in Italy perhaps and thence sifting into Spanish annals. The saint once inspired a desperate but successful defense of Manila, legend says; and so there is a city gate, the east one, named for her, and a street and military barracks be sides. She is one of the patronesses of “the very noble and ever loyal city of Manila.” 4 1 There is a rectangular mural of polychrome molave with the virgin and child and two che rubs in high-relief; enfantin certainly, yet one is curious about it and fond of it for its very simplicity. It is known as Our Lady of Solitude, and there is history behind it. The Obras Pias organized by Don Luis Dasmarinas in 1594, established Santa Isabel Col lege in 1634 in honor of Isabel II, the purpose being to educate Spanish girls and give them a dot upon marriage. A charge was made upon those who could afford to pay, but orphans were cared for free. The school persists today, much as in the beginning, save that the racial restric tion was removed long ago. The carving now at The Heirloom was placed in the chapel at the inauguration of the school and was revered as the Guardian Mother for 230 years. The chapel was badly damaged in the earthquake of 1864. When a new one was constructed it was dedicat ed to the Senor del Tesoro and the panel of Our Lady was removed to the entrance hall, where it remained until last year. Haphazard Studies in the English Language The grammatical forms of a language may be acquired by the diligent student without their giving him true facility in the use of the language, which can only come from putting into his memory, ready for instant use, many thousands of its words together with their precise meanings. Anything that will do this is a proper study of the language. .One may readily make one’s self a critic of one’s own diction. One means to this desirable end is to examine one’s own compositions for loose and cumbersome expres sions, and to refine them until all these expres sions are eliminated. Another means is to make every new word, or old word in a new sense, encountered in one’s reading, a familiar acquaint ance to be called upon in time of need. THE BALLAD OF THE “BOLIVAR” By Rudyard Kipling Seven men from all the world back to Docks again; Rolling down the Ratcliffe Road drunk and raising Cain; Give the girls another drink ’fore we sign away— We that took the “Bolivar” out across the Bay! The dignified jar of reddish brown stoneware among the illustrations suggests the sort of hiding place a geni of really excellent taste would select. According to Japanese authority, jars of this type belong to the time of Cheng Te, 1506-1521, and were made in the province of Kiangsu, at Yi-hsing.* They are little known in China today and would be unrecognized in the West as well, according to Hannover, were it not for the collection in the Field Museum at Chicago. The paste of which these jars were made was apparently very plastic and gave itself easily to the uses of modeling, molding, engraving, piercing or the application of relief ornament; and for a long time it was preferred in China to porcelain. At the close of the Ming period, this ware was highly prized; according to Hsiang’s Album a single small teapot brought as much as 250 taels, roughly 350 silver dollars. Lamps That Lighted Legaspi Into Manila. See text ♦See Pottery & Porcelain. 4 Handbook for Collectors, Vol. II: The Far East. Translated from the Danish by Emil Hannover, late director of the Museum of In dustrial Art at Copenhagen. The large jars, often of colossal size, solid, durable and refined in execution, were made largely for export. They have been discovered in considerable numbers in the southern Philip pines, on Borneo, and on Luzon. The oldest of them are believed to date from the 13th to the 15th centuries. We put out from Sunderland loaded down with rails; We put back to Sunderland ’cause our cargo shifted; We put out from Sunderland—met the winter gales— Seven days and seven nights to the Start we drifted. Racketing her rivets loose, smoke-stack white as snow, All the coals adrift adeck, half the rails below Leaking like a lobster-pot, steering like a dray— Out we took the “Bolivar," out across the Bay! Felt her hog and felt her sag, betted when she’d break; Wondered every time she raced if she’d stand the shock; Heard the seas like drunken men pounding at her strake; Hoped the Lord ’ud keep his thumb on the plummer-block. Aching for an hour’s sleep, dozing off between; Heard the rotten rivets draw when she took it green; Watched the compass chase its tail like a cat “They are often”, says Hannover “decorated with one, two or three large dragons coiled round the jar, showing up either in relief or incised in the stoneware, under a glaze which may be black, reddish brown, brownish yellow or dark green. Handed down from ancient times, in vested with all kinds of supernatural powers (including that of speech), they are regarded by the savage natives as of such enormous value that they are even used as payment for a bride.” At The Heirloom there are many varieties of curious and beautiful pottery, from China, the Philippines, Java, and Japan. There is very little porcelain. But two jars about twelve inches in height, of biscuit, are not without interest to the connoisseur of antique porcelains. They were made toward the close of the 18th century in the Philippines by craftsmen who had brought over the recipe from the Spanish Factory of Buen Retiro built in 1760 under Charles III. Originally the factory was restricted to making articles solely for the uses of the royal household or for gifts to be present ed by members of the king’s family. Most of the craftsmen were either Neapolitans from Capo di Monte who brought with them many of the molds in use there, or were native workmen who had carefully studied the Italian methods. Later, when the factory became commercialized, the number of Neapolitan workmen dwindled. In design, the jars at The Heir loom bear a vague relationship to Sevres, and an unmistakable one to Wedgwood, two factories that influenced the later artisans of the Buen Retiro. The paste is ob viously of an inferior quality, due to some important difference in the composition of materials to be found in the Philippines. This disappointment may at least par tially explain why the art of making fine porcelains was not developed here. Considering the rarity of such objects, a value otherwise undeserved attaches to this pair of jars of the biscuit d6cor6. The delightful pastime of describing beautiful objects tempts one to go on, when perhaps at the first mention of their whereabouts you drop the magazine and go to see them for yourself. Both Mrs. Haughwout and Mrs. Welch have been residents of Manila for many years, but it was only a year or so ago that they began to form their collection. What magic tempted them? Perhaps the geni of the dragon jar. at play— That was on the “Bolivar,” south across the Bay. Once we saw between the squalls, lyin’ head to swell— Mad with work and weariness, wishin’ they Some damned Liner’s lights go by like a grand hotel; Cheered her from the “Bolivar” swampin’ in the sea. Then a grey back cleared us out, then the skipper laughed; “Boys, the wheel has gone to Hell—ring the winches aft; Yoke the kicking rudder-head—get her under way!” So we steered her, pully-haul, out across the Bay! Just a pack o’ rotten plates puttied up with tar, In we came, an’ time enough, ’cross Bilbao Bar. Overloaded, undermanned, meant to founder, we Euchred God Almighty’s storm, bluffed the Eternal Sea! Seven men from all the world, back to town again, Rollin’ down the Ratcliffe Road drunk and raising Cain; Seven men from out of Hell. Ain’t the owners gay, ’Cause we took the “Bolivar” safe across the Bay?