The 1970 Miss International tiara and crown of legendary beauty queen Aurora Pijuan is the highlight of León Gallery’s online auction on July 20-21.

Bidding is through León’s online platform, www.leonexchange.com.

The mini pearl tiara celebrates “love, peace and beauty,” the motto of the Japan-based annual celebration that’s among the oldest and best-loved of international beauty contests in the world.

Handcrafted by Tokyo-based jewelry company Mikimoto, the mini tiara was entitled to Pijuan when she won Miss International in 1970 in Osaka, the second Filipina to do so after Gemma Cruz Araneta. The tiara comes with the iconic pearl-encrusted gold crown also created by Mikimoto.

Another notable piece of jewelry to be bid out is the medallion of the Order of the Holy Annunciation from the 19th century. It shows the image of the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Gabriel during the Annunciation. Crafted from gold and enamel, the image is surrounded by love knots. The four corners are designed with four roses and features the letters: F. E. R. T (Fortitudo Ejus Rhodum Tenuit—meaning Rhodes was kept by his bravery).

Holy Annunciation was the highest dynastic Roman Catholic order of knighthood of the House of Savoy and the Italian Kingdom. It was a religious and military fraternity that dated back to the 14th century and was reserved only for the nobility.

Philippine-based Swiss-born jeweler Hans Brumann’s 18-karat white-gold neck piece and  18-karat white-gold earrings will also be auctioned off.

Notable furniture on auction are the hardwood Georgian Secretaire bookcase, 19th-century Sheraton table drawer, one-piece Balayong table, Herman Miller swivel chairs and the beautiful Art Deco narra table.

Visual arts

In the extensive visual arts section of the auction, National Artist Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (1932-2011) is represented by “Portrait of a Lady,” an oil-on-canvas signed and dated 1969.

National Artist Hernando R. Ocampo (1911-1978) meanwhile is represented by “Nude,” a pen-and-ink  signed and dated 1977.

Old master Jorge Pineda (1879-1946) is represented by “Untitled” works, one of them a 1925 watercolor-on-paper of an old Catholic church.

A patriotic drawing by National Artist Carlos “Botong” Francisco (1912-1969) apparently of Andres Bonifacio during the Cry of Pugad Lawin will also be auctioned off.

Juvenal Sanso’s “Untitled” painting of a woman with a flower hat has a starting bid of P18,000.

Late modernist masters Malang (1928-2017) and Romulo Olazo (1934-2015) are represented by “Woman Vendor” (P15,000) and an untitled abstract work (P15,000), respectively.

Other modernists: Paco Gorospe’s two untitled abstract works (P15,000); Cesar Buenaventura’s untitled landscape (P15,000); Ramon Orlina’s  “Japanese Pagoda” (P10,000)

Among contemporary works, Leonexchange will bid out Paulo Vinluan’s monochromatic “Sisyphus IV” (P15,000),  Dexter Sy’s surrealist “Untitled” (P12,000), and Winner Jumalon’s untitled depiction of a male figure (P50,000).

Kokoshka’s student

Also to be auctioned of is  a stash of paintings by the late German expressionist artist Dieter Korbanka (1936-2009), who had made Mindoro his home before he passed away.

His oeuvre married abstraction and ethnic art, and his images are influenced by the places he lived in—the Canary Islands, New York, India and the Philippines.

According to Galeria Manuel Ojeda, “Beneath the faces of Korbanka’s anthropomorphic images lie strong emotions of passion, fear, panic, anger and curiosity.”

Korbanka was born in Lyck (East Prussia) and studied Fine Arts at the Freie Akademie in Manheim, Germany, under Paul Berger-Bergner. He continued his studies under the tutelage of renowned Austrian painter and writer Oskar Kokoshka, who called him his “most talented student.”

“There is something for all art collectors and enthusiasts as well as for those who simply want to live with beautiful and stylish things,” said León Gallery director Jaime Ponce de León.

Preview of lots will be at León Gallery at both W14 La Fuerza Plaza, and Eurovilla 1, Rufino and Legazpi Streets, Legazpi Village, Makati City. —CONTRIBUTED

Access catalogue at www.leonexchange.com.