{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":47380,"auction_id":95,"set_id":125,"lot_number":"133","artist":"Jose Honorato Lozano (1821 - 1885)","title":"People and Forts of Balanguigui, Sulu Archipelago","starting_price":3800000,"signed_dated":"ca. 1847 - 1848
","medium":"gouache / watercolor on paper","size":"21\" x 29\" (53 cm x 74 cm)","property":null,"coa":"“Planos perfiles y elevaciones de los Cuatro Fuertes de la Ysla de Balanguigui tomados\npor las tropas del Ejercito de Filipinas mandadas en persona por el Excmo. Sr. Capitan\nGeneral Don Narciso Claveria y trajes de los habitantes de aquel archipelago” (“Plans in\nprofiles and elevations of the Four Forts of Balanguigui Island taken by the troops of the\nArmy in the Philippines commanded personally by the His Excellency Captain-General Don\nNarciso Claveria and the costumes of the inhabitants of that archipelago)” dated 1847","provenance":"Commissioned by Governor-General Narciso Clavería y Saldúa directly from the artist.","exhibited":"In a renowned exhibition to commemorate the Balanguigui Victory, Manila, 1848.","literature":null,"write_up":"The scholar Ramon N. Villegas would write the following about José Honorato Lozano y Asuncion: “Born in Manila, Lozano may have been trained by Chinese painters or Filipino painters skilled in Chinese painting techniques. But from his works, it is obvious that Lozano may have also trained with Domingo, or someone who studied at his academy. Lozano’s common folk are quite similar in perspective, lighting and over-all treatment to Domingo’s, as well as other contemporaries.
“The Spanish government commissioned Lozano to depict episodes from the history of the colony to be displayed during a fiesta in the district of Santa Cruz, Manila in 1848.
“In 1859, the writer Rafael Diaz Arenas, mentioned that Lozano was \"a watercolorist without rival\". Lozano painted in the costumbrismo tradition, (that is, the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primarily on the Hispanic scene, and particularly in the 19th century); thus, supplying the demand from foreign visitors for souvenirs of Manila. He also painted in oil.”
This highly important artwork depicting costumes of the Muslim Inhabitants and the layout of pirate fortifications from a long forgotten battle between the mighty Spanish Armada and the pirates in Balanguingui, Sulu dates from 1848.
The portraits, which would are a kind of “Tipos del Pais” are extremely rare depictions of Filipino Muslims. All the other ‘Costumbrista’ paintings would record only the men and women of Manila, at best Northern Luzon. Four of these Claveria paintings are of warriors: four more are couples of high standing— datus and their wives —and there is one female, dressed in an expensive indigo garment; for a total of nine finely-wrought images.
The first fighter brandishes a long sword known as a ‘kampilan’ along with a shield called the ‘kalasag’; while the second is poised to strike with a shield and a shorter shield. Shields of this size were often used as weapons as well. Even more impressive — and unique — is the depiction of a Muslim warrior in armor with chain mail, or the ‘kurab-a-kulang’, worn with a metal helmet and headdress of links. The armor is entirely unique to the Mindanao tribes. Examples of these in brass and carabao horn are to be found at the National Museum of Anthrolopogy in Madrid, most probably acquired as war booty.
The other figures are men and women of the ruling class; the men carry sheathed swords or clubs, hanging from their belts; one carries a long staff, which in Luzon would be known as a “baston de mando”, or “cane of command”. They wear kerchiefs and are richly adorned in patterned silks. Curiously, only the women are shod in black slippers; while the men are barefoot.
No doubt these paintings would have caused a sensation in Manila at their unveiling, offering a look at never-beforescene tribes from Mindanao.
Four carefully drawn plans of the forts that were captured by the Spanish forces are also depicted, as further proof of the hard-won achievements of the Governor-General.
This Balanguigui painting by Lozano were originally thought to have been lost to time since it was last seen in public display in Manila in 1848. As it turned out, Governor General Claveria brought the artworks with him back to Spain when his term ended in 1849 as part of his personal collection. He died two years later in 1851 and the Lozano artworks were forgotten and thought to have been lost forever until it resurfaced in 2015 when the private estate of Gov. Gen. Claveria was auctioned off by his descendants in Madrid, Spain.","lot_group":"Painting","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":4000000,"bp":0.2016,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":4000000,"userBid":5926,"isPaid":0,"userId":22,"lot_status":"SOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":null,"reserve_price":null,"hammer_price":4806400,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":47069,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/95/125/lot/133.jpg","isFeatured":1}]},"increment":[2200000,2400000,2600000,2800000,3000000,3200000,3400000,3600000,3800000,4000000,4200000,4400000,4600000,4800000,5000000,5500000,6000000,6500000,7000000,7500000,8000000,8500000,9000000,9500000,10000000,11000000,12000000,13000000,14000000,15000000,16000000,17000000,18000000,19000000,20000000],"prev":132,"next":134,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}