Statuette
Text
Statuette; ivory; St Joseph wearing long mantle, broad-brimmed hat; hair coloured black; traces of red and gilding on garments.
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Metadata
Date
17thC
Identifier
1882,1028.1
Origin
Made in: Philippines
Asia: Southeast Asia: Philippines
Found/Acquired: Mexico
Americas: North America: Mexico
Asia: Southeast Asia: Philippines
Found/Acquired: Mexico
Americas: North America: Mexico
Materials
ivory
gold
gold
Physical Dimensions
Height: 32 centimetres
carved
gilded
carved
gilded
Provenance
Donated by: Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG887)
The object is part of a larger group.
This is an important piece which was formerly considered to be Spanish (?) but is now considered to have been made in the Phlippines for the export market. The eyes display Chinese influence, whilst the large ears resemble those found on Buddhist sculptures.Carver may have been Chinese? These pieces travelled with the Spanish Catholic missions. A comparable example is in the ranz Mayer4 Museum, Mexico City. A Mary Magdalen figure with traces of gilding was sold at Christie's Paris 15 June 2016 lot f23 where it is said that ivories from the Philippines are rare documents for the luxury trade with Manila in the 16th-17th centuries.
The object is part of a larger group.
This is an important piece which was formerly considered to be Spanish (?) but is now considered to have been made in the Phlippines for the export market. The eyes display Chinese influence, whilst the large ears resemble those found on Buddhist sculptures.Carver may have been Chinese? These pieces travelled with the Spanish Catholic missions. A comparable example is in the ranz Mayer4 Museum, Mexico City. A Mary Magdalen figure with traces of gilding was sold at Christie's Paris 15 June 2016 lot f23 where it is said that ivories from the Philippines are rare documents for the luxury trade with Manila in the 16th-17th centuries.
Acquisition Date
1882
Short description
Condition:
Right hand and left forearm, originally made separately, are lost.
Treatment reports: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/112174:1
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/110061:1
Right hand and left forearm, originally made separately, are lost.
Treatment reports: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/112174:1
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/110061:1
Display status
Not on display
2015 – 2016 4 Dec – 29 May, National Museum of Singapore, ‘Treasures of the World’s Cultures’
2015 – 2016 4 Dec – 29 May, National Museum of Singapore, ‘Treasures of the World’s Cultures’
References
Dalton 1909 / Catalogue of the Ivory Carvings of the Christian Era with Examples of Mohammedan Art and Carvings in Bone in the Department of British and Mediaeval Antiquities and Ethnography of the British Museum (549)
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Source
Record accessed in November 2020
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“Statuette,” Mapping Philippine Material Culture, accessed April 18, 2024, https://philippinestudies.uk/mapping/items/show/3966.
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