{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":22319,"auction_id":25,"set_id":44,"lot_number":"58","artist":"Silla Frailuna/Sillon Fraile \nWith Extendable Arms","title":null,"starting_price":140000,"signed_dated":"1825–1875 \nIlocos region ","medium":"Narra and Molave ","size":"44 1/2” x 31” x 49” \n(113 cm x 79 cm x 125 cm)","property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":"Collection of scholar and antiquarian Ramon N .Villegas","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"This silla frailuna/sillon fraile has an elaborate crest of intertwined grapes and leaves over an undulating backrest which flares slightly upwards and has a deep, contoured seat. Its atypical lengthy and generous arms, with added adjustable extensions in this example, are supported below by elegant C–scroll cutwork brackets. The comfortable, cradling seat is supported by baluster legs in front and plain curving ones at the back connected by stretchers. The silla frailuna/sillon fraile, termed as such because it was initially used in the palatial halls of convents and monasteries, was the most elegant of the various planter’s chairs/lounging chairs the of the nineteenth century.
\nA Harvard University–educated art and antique collector observes: “The sillon is clearly made by a master craftsman. The crown is an artful and gracious composition inspired by the leaves and fruit of the grapevine. The grape motif on the crown suggests that the piece might come from the Ilocos region. From the side view, the sinuous curve of the seat, with its deep recline, follows the curvilinear gestures established on a smaller scale by the crown. The master craftsman constructs the sillon mostly in narra, but selects the far sturdier molave for the turned, frontal, load-bearing legs: for it is here at the front, where the heavy ilustrado or his wife presses down to lift out of a semi-horizontal position. The piece is in very good condition, bearing signs of use consistent with its age.”
\nThe distinguished collector continues: “An exceptional example of its type, this elegant armchair is associated with the intelligentsia and aristocracy of
19th century Philippines — with families whose wealth from vast plantations of cotton, sugar, abaca, and tobacco allowed The Ramon Villegas Butaca by Augusto Marcelino Reyes Gonzalez lll them to send their sons for higher education in Europe. These sons — men such as Luna, Hidalgo, and Rizal — played a pivotal role in the birth and genesis of the new republic, bringing back home with them the new ideals of the Enlightenment.”
\nPlanter’s chairs/Lounging chairs during the Spanish colonial era were basically derived from Indian models which in turn were inspired by English Regency and German Biedermeier examples. Filipino furniture- makers produced them in a few forms during the second quarter of the nineteenth century, rivaling the comfort of the popular bamboo papag (or daybed) or even the ubiquitous, multicolored banig (or woven grass mat) for everyone’s all–important afternoon siesta. An early form was a lengthy silla perezosa with a 45-degree inclined back (or even less) which terminated in a simple scroll and not a crest, a deep, contoured seat, and very long arms intended for the sitter’s legs; an extremely comfortable form conducive to afternoon siestas. The most common form was that of the silla perezosa or butaca which had a crest of intertwined foliar and floral forms (barely articulated in the succeeding decades of the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth) over an arched backrest which simply continued on to the seat in an inwardly curving scroll. It had long arms which were meant to support the outstretched legs of the sitter. The four feet were simple inwardly curving C–scroll cutwork. The silla frailuna or sillon fraile was the most elegant lounging chair of these early types. It had a crest of unfurling foliar and floral forms over an undulating, (slightly trapezoidal) backrest which flared slightly upwards and a deep, contoured seat. Its generous arms flared outwards and were supported underneath by elegant C–scroll cutwork brackets. The commodious seat was supported by baluster legs in front and plain outwardly curving ones at the back which were sometimes connected by stretchers. An unspoken purpose of these lounging chairs was to air the sitter’s midsection which usually became sweaty, smelly, and simply unhygienic in the searing tropical heat of the Filipinas islands.
\nDuring the last quarter of the nineteenth century (1875–1900), Binondo, Manila and provincial furniture-makers produced sillones or butacas to match suites of Victorian–style furniture like the mariposa sofa (the three oval cane–back or long cane– back models), its two armchairs, and four single chairs, echoing the forms and specially the crests. However, the more interesting development of that time was how those same furniture makers took the liberty of mixing up the components of various sillones or butacas and produced interesting hybrids that did not adhere to the old traditional examples. One can see this in an arrangement of unusual and interesting butacas in the caida (entrance hall) of the storied Sy–Quia residence in nVigan city, Ilocos Sur. Visits to the surviving old houses of Lucban, Tayabas, and Sariaya towns in Quezon province also show interesting examples.","lot_group":"FURNITURE","lot_details_html":"
Silla Frailuna/Sillon Fraile With Extendable Arms 1825–1875 Ilocos region Narra and Molave 44 1/2” x 31” x 49” (113 cm x 79 cm x 125 cm)