{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":22321,"auction_id":25,"set_id":44,"lot_number":"61","artist":"Manila Aparador","title":null,"starting_price":1200000,"signed_dated":"2nd quarter of the 19th century ","medium":"Narra, kamagong, carabao bone and ivory ","size":"73 1/2” x 46 1/2” x 21 1/2” (187 cm x 118 cm x 55 cm)","property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":"From an old Baliuag, Bulacan family","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"The crest of this early Manila aparador in the late neoclassical style is a traditional marquetry frieze of unfurling flowers and leaves superimposed on kamagong wood, punctuated on the four corners with finials also of kamagong. The style of the interspersed flowers and leaves is traditional Baliuag usually interpreted entirely in carabao bone or entirely in kamagong (rarely mixed in that specific context, but there are genuine examples) and found in the aprons of the more elaborate two–drawer, two–door “comodas” commodes with kamagong posts. However, the uniqueness of the cabinet is expressed in the unusual ivory and carabao bone utilized for the marquetry of the flowers and leaves, endowing a whole new dimension of Oriental creativity to this early aparador.
\nThe top of the main section of the cabinet is a concave molding of narra wood. From the concave molding, on both sides of the cabinet, descend a pair of finely reeded stylized Corinthian pilasters (engaged columns) in dark kamagong wood. The shafts themselves are edged at the top by rings and at the bottom by plain tubelike bases.
\nBelow the molding are the two beautiful, burled narra wood doors --- all framed by kamagong panels. The narra doors have raised vertical panels accented by double line inlay of lanite with inverse C–scroll corners.
\nThere is a cartouche of solid silver (80%) for the keyhole on the right door. Inside, there are four alternating levels of shelves: the top shelf, the second shelf with three drawers, the third shelf, and the bottom shelf with two drawers, atypical from the usual arrangement of two shelves with a center level of two drawers in the interior common to most Filipino cabinets produced from 1825–1850. The unprepossessing second shelf with three drawers conceals a significant feature of this aparador: there are three small secret compartments behind the three drawers where the owner could hide valuables during times of uncertainty.
\nAn Early Manila Aparador Both sides of the cabinet casing also have beautiful panels of burled narra wood accented by double line inlay of lanite with inverse C–scroll corners, as the doors. Four vertical panels of narra form the back of the cabinet.
\nBelow the doors is a rounded base molding which connects the kamagong pilasters to the narra baluster feet. Under the rounded base molding is a rectangular apron in narra applied with line inlay of two horizontal panels in lanite, centered by a flower surrounded by a circle of triangle–shapes all in carabao bone. The entire cabinet is supported by four baluster feet of narra. \nTrue to the late neoclassical style, the cabinet possesses the attributes of restraint, balance, and order.
\nThis cabinet comes from an old Filipino family from Baliuag, Bulacan. \nAuthor’s Note : This type of late neoclassical cabinet was termed “Manila” in origin by Filipiniana authority Ramon N Villegas and by leading antique dealer and Manila’s “romancer of wood” Osmundo Esguerra because it was usually found within the confines of the metropolis, although interestingly, many examples were also found in the Ilocos region (perhaps they were widely sold there through the river trade or there were Manila–trained craftsmen in Ilocos workshops). The style was derived mainly from American Federal furniture with elements from English Regency and German Biedermeier. From the mid–1800s to the prewar, this type of cabinet was usually found in the holdings of early prominent families like the Tuason–Legarda–Prieto–Valdes, the Roxas–de Ayala–Zobel–Soriano, and the Roxas–Zaragoza– Araneta–Infante–Preysler clans.","lot_group":"FURNITURE","lot_details_html":"
Manila Aparador 2nd quarter of the 19th century Narra, kamagong, carabao bone and ivory 73 1/2” x 46 1/2” x 21 1/2” (187 cm x 118 cm x 55 cm)