The auction house Casa de Memoria (house of memories) is one aptly named. It deals solely in European antiquities—silver, statues, paintings and religious figures—consigned by one family or a number of sources.
Marketing manager Camille Lhuillier said that it was obvious these items were cherished but that the owners saw it fit to let go of them for their own reasons. Many of the pieces sport that desirable patina of age although credit should also go to Casa de Memoria and its team of restorers.
“The staff is trained to clean the pieces before they’re put up for auction,” Lhuillier told Inquirer Lifestyle. Silver is polished, porcelain is cleaned, and tiny tears are mended.
“However, people with artworks or antiques that they want to have professionally cleaned—but are not there to sell—can also contact us. We offer that service at the showroom,” she said.
In its first auction last May, close to half of the 300 lots were sold to bidders who had scoped out the pieces days before the auction.
Those that weren’t sold were put on display in the showroom and offered for sale at prices based on starting bids.
On our recent visit, the showroom on Jupiter Street in Makati still had pieces on display from the last auction: a pair of dueling roosters made of heavy Portuguese silver, delicate paper fans in glass frames, and Chinese gods and goddesses carved from ivory tusks.
“We make sure that the ivory pieces we include at auction were all made before March 1947 when trading in ivory became illegal,” operations manager Tiffany Mathay said.
Lhuillier and Mathay, with entrepreneur Angelique Miranda, are holding a second auction on July 30 that will include a single, intricately worked piece of ivory depicting the Infant Jesus atop a globe, his hands held aloft. This will be one of over 200 pieces.
There is also a painting of the Infanta, the daughter of the Spanish King Philip, who is usually depicted wearing a nun’s habit. In this rare painting, however, she is shown with a delicate ruff around her neck, a symbol of royalty and stature.
“From our research, we gathered that this painting was made when she hadn’t yet taken her vows,” Mathay said.
Interested parties can view the 250 lots on July 23-28. The July 30 auction opens with cocktails at 4 p.m.
Casa de Memoria, 156 Jupiter and Comet Streets, Bel-Air, Makati City; tel. 7720414.