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Wood Ivory Virgen del Rosario, 19th C. Filipino

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RARE IN ITS FORM!

HAND CARVED WOOD IVORY MADONNA AND CHILD SANTOS
This is a superb ornate “Virgen del Rosario” or Madonna and Child Jesus. It was part of a collection of an antique dealer that had it packed away for many years after retiring from shows. Look closely at the back of the Santos. You will notice that carved at the midsection is a “tuck-in” of the mantle. This is how the Spanish carvers carved the backs of the religious sculptures during the 17th-19th century. As many serious collectors know, carvings from Colonial Asia and South America do not have this “tuck-in” characteristic because the natives modeled their Santos’ from picture images which do not show the back, thereby they carved them with their backs flat except in Filipino carvings**. As to its age this very well preserved Santos with very minor losses was carved around the late 19th. There have been some expansion of the wood and a medium long crack has developed vertically at the back, but this has not affected the solidity of the carving. The left hand of the Child Jesus holding the globe has a small chipped portion at the cuff. His right hand has lost the two lower fingertips as well. Notice the Madonna’s face is of ivory and the back of the head is of wood. She has glass eyes typical of high quality sculptures. Her hands are also of ivory and are in perfect order as the face. On the other hand the Child Jesus’ head is carved out of solid ivory and due to his smaller size he is not equipped with glass eyes. Note also that his foot sticking out is also carved out of ivory. Notice that at the cloud base are three “puttis” or “cherubims” or simply angel heads as you might want to call them. The right and left heads are carved out of wood and the middle one with his stunningly handsome face is carved out of ivory and glass eyes to match. It may explain that during those days when ivory is rather very expensive that carving all puttis in ivory will be rather extravagant. The Virgen del Rosario, stands 17" tall without the aureole. Note the exquisite Continental detail of her gown or mantle with very deep folds. Included in the sale is her massive silver aureole from the high Peruvian Andes and the glass dome with wood base.

SPECIFICATIONS:
· Size: Stands 19” high (17" w/o crown)x 7.7" wide x 3" deep.
· Medium: Ivory, Wood, Gesso and Polychrome Paint
· Circa: Late 19th century
· Glass Dome/Base: 10” dia. X 20” long dome / 12” dia. X 1” high base
· Crown: Coin Silver 4.5” W X 3.5” H X 2” opening, weight=1.5 oz.
· Virgin’s Head Size: 1 3/8” W X 2 2/8” H
· Jesus Head: 1” W X 1 2/8” H
· Cherub’s Head: 1 1/8” W X 1 3/8” H
· Provenance: Filipino
· Repairs: None noted
· Weight: 4# - 5 oz. (carving only)

**(from the book Images of Faith) A great number of early images, which may be dated from the late seventeenth to the eighteenth century, carry a curious feature on their backs. This is a horizontal fold on the cape. Logically this fold, which may be called “suksok”, Tagalog for “tuck-in”, should not appear at all. Most of the backs of the figurines are hardly carved (the Filipinos largely used prints as models for their sculpture, which of course afforded them only frontal views), and why this suksok should be so articulated remains a puzzle. It cannot be found in Chinese carving.

La Naval Shrine

When Filipino Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, they will be reminded of the depths of the Marian devotion that has fired and guided the nation through several centuries.

The intensity of the devotion cuts across geographies and generations, so much so that Marian feasts -- the Peñafrancia of Bikol, the Manaoag of Pangasinan, the Caysaysay of Taal, the Buenviaje of Antipolo, the Turumba of Pakil, the Salambao of Obando, the Candelaria of Iloilo -- have become the distinguishing marks of the islands, uniting disparate peoples into a singular whole, like diverse siblings so joined by their mother.

The icon of the Blessed Mother under several guises and titles has been the object of so much faith and fervor that it has become, for lack of a better word, iconic.

So iconic has been the devotion that it has become a heritage in itself. The magnificent patrimony is evident in the Santo Domingo Museum, which houses and preserves the sacred icons, vessels, vestments and other appurtenances that have cohered around the Santissima Rosario, more popularly known by the martial title La Naval.

The Holy Father had declared Santo Domingo Church with its La Naval shrine as a pilgrimage site for Marian devotees. Thus, those who would visit the Church would get special blessings.