As a stellar year of auction highs comes to a close, Salcedo Auctions rings in “Under the Tree: The Wish List,” its final sale of 2017 on Saturday, Nov. 25, 1 p.m., at Three Salcedo Place, 102 Tordesillas St., Salcedo Village, Makati City. A preview runs till today, Nov. 24, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The collection of close to 300 lots expertly curated by Salcedo Auctions specialists includes important Philippine art, fine jewelry and timepieces, rare books and maps, objets d’art and handcrafted antique Philippine furniture of exquisite provenance.
Philippine art
Among the Philippine art highlights are highly sought after works by National Artists Ang Kiukok, Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera, H.R. Ocampo and Arturo Luz, as well as esteemed modernist Danilo Dalena.
Kiukok’s “Harvest,” a 1989 oil on canvas, shows a farm worker clutching sheaves of golden grain, face turned skyward in humble thanksgiving for the bountiful blessing, its saturated blocks of warm and primary colors adding impact to the imagery.
A very rare and large “Larawan” series by BenCab shows a woman dressed in turn-of-the-century garb with a Mona Lisa smile. Sainted yet coquettish, it is a vision of Filipino maidenhood.
“Polo Players,” one of Ocampo’s earliest known works, is a documented 1939 oil on canvas. The style is figurative, however the technique, simplicity of shapes, and use of lines are indicative of the beginning of the artist’s more familiar abstract style.
Hard-to-find pieces by Luz are also highlights of the Salcedo Auctions sale, including two canvas pieces from a European collection. Painted in the ’60s, the works show the artist’s development in geometric abstraction through a unique depiction of still life rendered in layered and textured application of enamel in soft tones.
An untitled piece from Dalena’s “Alibangbang” series will also be going under the hammer. The series refers to a beerhouse in Cubao that was known for a wide array of night habitues in the ’80s. The piece is voyeuristic in nature and illustrates social decay imbued with emotive figurative expressionism.
Vintage Rolex
Beyond Philippine art, over 30 carefully selected timepieces will also be auctioned off. Among these are a never-before-worn tourbillon from the House of Graff and vintage Rolex watches.
On the heels of Salcedo Auctions’ record sale of the Rolex Paul Newman Daytona for P22 million, the local watch scene makes news once again with the offering of two ultra-collectible Rolexes.
The first is a military Submariner or Milsub in original condition acquired from international collector Robert Maron. Commissioned by the British Ministry of Defense and never intended for public sale, it was used by British military divers in the 1970s and worn during combat and special missions. This particular dive watch is perhaps the most famous of military watches and holds a place in watch history. Approximately 1,500 units of the Milsub were delivered from 1971 to 1979 and less than a few hundred survive today, making it one of the most highly coveted timepieces.
The second is the ultra-rare 5513 Submariner with a 3, 6, 9 Explorer dial. The same reference recently sold in the United Kingdom for over £200,000. While multiple variations of the Submariner Ref. 5513 exist, this dial is considered to be one of the rarest and most collectible variations.
As part of the selection of Philippine tribal art, a very rare pair of bulul, circa 1900, and a male seated bulul in a central Ifugao style are exceptional finds for collectors of ethnographic artifacts. Exquisite offerings in Philippine furniture include pieces from the estate of Don Isauro Gabaldon y Gonzalez. Moving from his grand estate in Nueva Ecija to his home in Manila, and finally in the ’50s to his heirs in Bacolod City, the pieces consist of a very fine kamagong, narra and solihiya bed with acanthus details, a 12-seater narra dining table with neoclassical elements and two narra Baliuag beds.
View the catalogue at www.salcedoauctions.com.
Call 6594094, 09178946550;e-mail info@salcedoauctions.com. Follow @salcedoauctions on Instagram and Facebook.