People and Forts of Balanguigui, Sulu Archipelago ca. 1847 - 1848 gouache / watercolor on paper 21" x 29" (53 cm x 74 cm) “Planos perfiles y elevaciones de los Cuatro Fuertes de la Ysla de Balanguigui tomados por las tropas del Ejercito de Filipinas mandadas en persona por el Excmo. Sr. Capitan General Don Narciso Claveria y trajes de los habitantes de aquel archipelago” (“Plans in profiles and elevations of the Four Forts of Balanguigui Island taken by the troops of the Army in the Philippines commanded personally by the His Excellency Captain-General Don Narciso Claveria and the costumes of the inhabitants of that archipelago)” dated 1847 PROVENANCE: Commissioned by Governor-General Narciso Clavería y Saldúa directly from the artist. EXHIBITED: In a renowned exhibition to commemorate the Balanguigui Victory, Manila, 1848. WRITE UP: The scholar Ramon N. Villegas would write the following about José Honorato Lozano y Asuncion: “Born in Manila, Lozano may have been trained by Chinese painters or Filipino painters skilled in Chinese painting techniques. But from his works, it is obvious that Lozano may have also trained with Domingo, or someone who studied at his academy. Lozano’s common folk are quite similar in perspective, lighting and over-all treatment to Domingo’s, as well as other contemporaries. “The Spanish government commissioned Lozano to depict episodes from the history of the colony to be displayed during a fiesta in the district of Santa Cruz, Manila in 1848. “In 1859, the writer Rafael Diaz Arenas, mentioned that Lozano was "a watercolorist without rival". Lozano painted in the costumbrismo tradition, (that is, the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primarily on the Hispanic scene, and particularly in the 19th century); thus, supplying the demand from foreign visitors for souvenirs of Manila. He also painted in oil.” This highly important artwork depicting costumes of the Muslim Inhabitants and the layout of pirate fortifications from a long forgotten battle between the mighty Spanish Armada and the pirates in Balanguingui, Sulu dates from 1848. The portraits, which would are a kind of “Tipos del Pais” are extremely rare depictions of Filipino Muslims. All the other ‘Costumbrista’ paintings would record only the men and women of Manila, at best Northern Luzon. Four of these Claveria paintings are of warriors: four more are couples of high standing— datus and their wives —and there is one female, dressed in an expensive indigo garment; for a total of nine finely-wrought images. The first fighter brandishes a long sword known as a ‘kampilan’ along with a shield called the ‘kalasag’; while the second is poised to strike with a shield and a shorter shield. Shields of this size were often used as weapons as well. Even more impressive — and unique — is the depiction of a Muslim warrior in armor with chain mail, or the ‘kurab-a-kulang’, worn with a metal helmet and headdress of links. The armor is entirely unique to the Mindanao tribes. Examples of these in brass and carabao horn are to be found at the National Museum of Anthrolopogy in Madrid, most probably acquired as war booty. The other figures are men and women of the ruling class; the men carry sheathed swords or clubs, hanging from their belts; one carries a long staff, which in Luzon would be known as a “baston de mando”, or “cane of command”. They wear kerchiefs and are richly adorned in patterned silks. Curiously, only the women are shod in black slippers; while the men are barefoot. No doubt these paintings would have caused a sensation in Manila at their unveiling, offering a look at never-beforescene tribes from Mindanao. Four carefully drawn plans of the forts that were captured by the Spanish forces are also depicted, as further proof of the hard-won achievements of the Governor-General. This Balanguigui painting by Lozano were originally thought to have been lost to time since it was last seen in public display in Manila in 1848. As it turned out, Governor General Claveria brought the artworks with him back to Spain when his term ended in 1849 as part of his personal collection. He died two years later in 1851 and the Lozano artworks were forgotten and thought to have been lost forever until it resurfaced in 2015 when the private estate of Gov. Gen. Claveria was auctioned off by his descendants in Madrid, Spain.
Two watercolors. One signed with an initial in the lower right corner. One with a small tear in the lower central part that does not affect the drawing.
José Honorato Lozano (1821 - 1885) Emilio Perez del Pulgar signed (lower right) ca 1840 watercolor on paper 26 1/4” x 27 1/4” (67 cm x 69 cm) Private collection, Barcelona, Spain This nostalgic work in watercolor by Jose Honorato Lozano from the 1840s shows long–forgotten panoramic views of Manila from the bay as one arrived by ship from abroad or the provinces, of Manila Bay as one viewed it from outside Intramuros, and of the prosperous Port of Cavite as one arrived by ship. These locations and views have basically remained the same today in 2021, but the infrastructure, buildings, houses, town and city planning, and cleanliness have been irretrievably reconfigured by time --- the 1863 and 1880 earthquakes, the 1872 Cavite Mutiny, Spanish decadence, the Philippine Revolution, the Philippine–American War, American modernization, World War II, pollution, and overall environmental degradation. The painting is composed of three horizontal panels: The top panel shows a panoramic view of “Manila” as it is approached by boat from Manila Bay fronted by “EMILIO PEREZ.” The middle panel shows the opposite view “La Vista de la Bahia de Manila” (A View of Manila Bay) Manila Bay from the shore outside Intramuros fronted by “DEL.” The bottom panel shows a view of the “Puerto de Cavite” (Port of Cavite) fronted by “PULGAR.” The first section of the top panel shows the wide view of Manila as one arrived by ship: Tondo, the Manila lighthouse, Rio Pasig, Intramuros, Bagumbayan, and in the distance, the small fishing villages of Ermita and Malate. In two decades, during the 1870s, European–inflected seaside villas surrounded by pretty gardens would be built by the Manila rich in the quiet Ermita village. Sea– bathing, regarded as salubrious, became a fashionable pastime for them. The initial letter E is composed of a “sabungero” with his fighting cock backed by two women with earrings (his wife and his daughter, or his wife and his mistress), an affluent student in his tertiary years, and a boy playing with his dog. The letter M is formed by a male vegetable vendor and two laborers carrying bamboo. Between M and I is an adobe stone wall. The letter I is composed of a woman/market vendor wearing a big “salakot.” The letter L is made up of six barrio men in a discussion with two cuddling children on the side. The letter I is composed of four barrio women in a discussion. The letter O is formed by an obviously rich Chinese mestizo businessman dressed in his Sunday best --- white bowler hat, black jacket, fine gossamer “nipis” shirt, white trousers, leather shoes, and what looks like an ivory walking stick/cane --- standing in front of a boat being pushed by four boatmen. One theory put forward by the scholar Ramon Villegas was that the owner of the piece would be featured in a cameo in these works, in this case, the rich Chinese mestizo businessman in the upper center. The letter P is made up of two “guardias civil” and three barrio men in a discussion, a “casco” (covered bamboo raft) behind them. The letter E is composed of a man carrying a newly–felled tree, talking to his companion. The letter R is formed by a woman wearing a salakot and a scapular stacking firewood and a man with an improvised turban on his head having his “siesta” under a tree. The letter E is made up of a woman and her young daughter hanging laundry, their earthenware water containers below them. The letter Z is composed of two young boys playing on a small staircase. Separating the top panel from the second/middle section is an idyllic view of mountains, trees, and lush vegetation which is the archetypal view of the Filipinas archipelago. The second/middle section is a panoramic view of the “Bahia de Manila” Manila Bay from outside Intramuros with many ships and boats. One can see the hills of Cavite on the left, Corregidor island on the right, and the Manila lighthouse at the mouth of the Rio Pasig. It is a beautiful, swimmable beach with fine sand, just like all the lovely beaches of “Las Islas Filipinas.” Tragically, the Americans would fill it with boulders, stones, and sand to make Dewey boulevard (now Roxas boulevard) during the early 1900s. There are charming vignettes on the beachfront. From the left, there is a couple of Sangleyes (Chinese) with long hair queues chatting and fanning themselves. There are two well–off indios with their sparring fighting cocks, the dark indio wears a woven “salakot” hat with silver appliquees, an indicator of political or social position. In the distance, a boatman ferries a female passenger. There is a well–dressed native gentleman before the letter D. The letter D is formed by a rich Spaniard in full riding gear with his horse. The letter E is made up of a fisherman with a hat at rest beside his three fish baskets, with his handheld net and big net, and a big fishing boat behind him. Between E and L is a pretty india with a floral “alampay” on her shoulder. Seeing the small earthenware jar she balances on her head and the bottle she is carrying, she seems to be a “lechera,” a seller of fresh milk. The letter L is composed of seven men in a discussion, with a rooster below. After L is a scampering dog who meets a farmer with his “kampit” knife on his carabao, towing a large woven rice thresher on a bamboo sled. The bottom panel shows an expansive view of the prosperous “Puerto de Cavite” (Port of Cavite, the de facto “Port of Manila,” hub of the Manila–Acapulco Galleon Trade 1565–1815) which shows three of the eight churches --- La Ermita de Nuestra Senora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga, San Pedro (“iglesia parroquial”), Santo Domingo (Dominicans), Hospital de San Jose (Franciscan), Convento de San Diego de Alcala, San Juan de Dios, Nuestra Senora de Loreto (Jesuits), Santa Monica (Augustinian Recollects); schools like Colegio de San Ildefonso (Jesuit); government buildings like Fort San Felipe, the Governor’s Palace; and the big houses of the “principalia” families --- Alonso, Antonio, Basa, Bautista, de Ocampo, Gonzalez, Javier, Osorio, Tria Tirona, et al. The letter P is formed by a Chinese mestiza and a male fruit vendor, with a “casco” at the back. The letter U is made up of a well–dressed boatman with a hat holding a small net up. Between U and L is an adobe stone wall. The letter L is composed of a woman at a “lusong” (large wooden mortar pounding rice, with 3 chickens at her feet. Between L and G is a Chinese mestiza threshing rice in a big woven thresher. The letter G is formed by an acrobatic “zacatero” (grass seller) and his young son. Between G and A is a horse behind a bamboo corral. The letter A is made up of a black–veiled “beata” holy woman by a bundle of bamboo and a spotted dog. The letter R is composed of an assembly of affluent “principalia” ladies and gentlemen in their Sunday best, behind them are wooden barrels (casks of wine?). Jose Honorato Lozano was one of several painters in Manila during the first half of the 1800s, along with the pioneering Damian Domingo, Juan Arceo, and the younger Antonio Malantic and Justiniano Asuncion (“Capitan Ting”). In the tradition of “miniaturismo” (highly detailed art) popular in those days, Lozano specialized in the quaint art of “letras y figuras,” in which a full name was exquisitely spelled out with letters formed by vignettes with all kinds of subjects seemingly inspired by the European Medieval “book of hours” --- people, animals, plants, musical instruments, conveyances, landscape views, etc. Lozano was regarded well by high Spanish government officials and several of them were vocal with their praises; no doubt several of them recommended Lozano to important visiting personages for mementoes of their visits to Filipinas. Lozano’s incredibly detailed works charmed the affluent locals who hung them in their reception rooms as well as the expatriate Spaniards and other Europeans who commissioned and brought them home as souvenirs of an exotic Asian sojourn. This nostalgic “Emilio Perez del Pulgar” letras y figuras from a private collection in Barcelona, Spain is a pleasant surprise arrival at the Leon Gallery and is certainly a star lot at the upcoming Spectacular Mid–Year Auction 2021. Owing to an increasing popularity among affluent collectors of Filipiniana, the appearance of a genuine and signed work by Jose Honorato Lozano is an eagerly anticipated event in the Manila auction scene.
José Honorato Lozano (1821 - 1885) Letras y’ Figuras (Views of Manila) signed (lower right) Ca. 1850 gouache and watercolor on paper 22” x 33” (56 cm x 84 cm) Literature: Roces, Alfredo. Felix Resurrección Hidalgo & The Generation of 1872. Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc., 1998, p. 66. WRITE UP: This enchanting work in watercolor by Jose Honorato Lozano from the 1840s shows a vanished, magnificent Manila inevitably altered by the 1863 and 1880 earthquakes, Spanish decline, Revolution, American modernization, the World War II holocaust, postwar demolitions, and careless city administrations. The painting is composed of three horizontal panels: the top and bottom panels have three sections each while the middle panel is a panoramic view of the Manila Bay The first section of the top panel shows Calle Anloague in Binondo (“Street of the Carpenters,” now Juan Luna street leading to the Divisoria entrepot) where several foreign trading firms are headquartered. We see an all–stone building or house on the left with the flag of the United States of America (in the 1840s), it is likely the head office of an American trading firm. t can be disputed that this is a view of Calzada de San Sebastian [now R Hidalgo street] with its rows of elegant houses. The said street rose in importance during the 1830s when the rich of the long–established arrabales (districts) of Intramuros, Binondo, and Santa Cruz, in an effort to escape their crowded and smelly communities, started constructing big urban villas with the (then unheard–of) luxury of fruit and vegetable gardens and passable, clean estuaries/waterways at the back which were impossible to build in the older arrabales. However, the view really seems to be that of Calle Anloague, which is a much more important street at the time than Calzada de San Sebastian.) The initial letter V is composed of well–dressed, hat–wearing laborers carrying logs. The letter I is formed by a well–dressed native woman with a parasol and her companions. The second/middle section of the top panel shows a view of the commercial buildings, warehouses, and big houses lining the Pasig river from Santa Cruz to Binondo to Tondo (right to left). (This brings to mind personalities like the very rich Don Narciso Padilla, who during this exact time owns a fleet of ships, boats, and cascos [big bamboo rafts] which carries goods from the Pasig river all the way up north to the Ilocos and all the way down south to the Visayas, as well as rows of warehouses that stretch from Binondo to Tondo. This shipping and logistics empire is inherited by his daughter Dona Maria Barbara Padilla y Flores [“Dona Baritay”] who subsequently becomes known as La Reina de Rio Pasig because of her immense shipping and warehousing businesses; she becomes the mother of the master painter Don Felix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla.) The letter E is formed by laborers carrying logs and an ambulant Chinese vendor selling lugaw rice porridge and its condiments as well as gupit noodles to his hungry customers. The letters W and S are composed of veiled women and well–dressed men. The third section of the top panel shows a bahay kubo/nipa hut in a rustic setting which is probably the Gagalangin area in Tondo, even then the most populous district of the city. There is a simple couple huddling in a bamboo shed. Tondo in the 1800s, specially the Gagalangin area with its charming front gardens, is a pleasant residential district inhabited by people of modest means but also by some of the richest families in Manila with fortunes from international and domestic trading, warehousing, manufacturing, financing, and even micro-financing. Tondo in the 1800s up to the prewar was a vastly different community compared to what it is today. The second section is a panoramic view of the Manila Bay with many ships and boats. It is a beautiful, swimmable beach with fine sand, just like all the lovely beaches of Las Islas Filipinas. Tragically, the Americans would fill it with boulders, stones, and sand to make Dewey boulevard (now Roxas boulevard) during the early 1900s. There is a succession of interesting vignettes on the beachfront. From the left going right, we see a young, well–dressed principalia couple of the ruling class on their horses; two men with sparring roosters (cockfighting); a man on a carabao; the letter O formed by a man inside a casco (raft) or a boat; a mother and child just finished bathing in the sea; the letter F formed by a couple pounding rice on a wooden mortar; a female vendor with a small tapayan / earthenware water container on her head, a male vendor balancing a pole hung with 2 baskets, a mature, well–dressed principalia couple, and a female vendor selling rice cakes she is preparing on a papag or bamboo daybed. The first section of the bottom panel shows a view outside Intramuros looking north to the Pasig river. From the left, we see the Puente de Espana (Bridge of Spain) which has been there since 1630, the Pasig river, the Magellan monument, and the Maestranza wall. The Maestranza is a long portion of the Intramuros walls facing north to the Pasig river with many chambers built in the early 1600s to accommodate soldiers as well as all sorts of goods being traded downstream and upstream. There is a big woven rice thresher in the middle of it all, likely for the processing of rice being grown in the areas around Intramuros. The letter M is formed by musicians with a harp and guitar with chickens on top. The letter A is composed of a man amidst bamboo The second/middle section of the bottom panel shows the Plaza Mayor of Intramuros with the three major buildings flanking it: We see the Manila Cathedral in the middle (south), the Palacio del Gobernador on the right (west), and the Ayuntamiento/Casas Consistoriales on the left (east). It is still about 20 years before the great earthquake of 1863 which will level them all. (It is after that devastation that the Governor–General will transfer the seat of power to the far more modest riverside villa in the nearby San Miguel district that is the Palacio de Malacanan. The transfer of the Governor–General to San Miguel impels the rich --- specially the Spanish peninsular and the Spanish mestizo rich --- to construct grand villas with sprawling lush gardens in the area, setting off the most European incarnations of the Filipino bahay–na– bato. The idea of luxurious urban villas conceived in Calzada de San Sebastian achieves perfection in nearby San Miguel. Calle General Solano and Calle Aviles become the most fashionable addresses of the Filipino rich towards the end of the Spanish regime in 1898.) The letter N is formed by women with a horse. The letter I is composed of a group of men with top hats and women. The letter L is made up of a bahay kubo, a big woven rice thresher, a man with sacks, and other men The third section of the bottom panel shows the Binondo church with a frontage of greenery (unbelievable to contemporary eyes). It looks like an orchard with rows of fruit trees. The final letter A is formed by an old woman cooking with palayok earthenware pots, and there is a Chinese vendor balancing a pole from which hang a pair of tapayan vessels, probably filled with clean water. Jose Honorato Lozano was one of several painters in Manila during the first half of the 1800s, along with the pioneering Damian Domingo, Juan Arzeo, and the younger Antonio Malantic and Justiniano Asuncion (“Capitan Ting”). In the tradition of miniaturismo (highly detailed art) popular in those days, Lozano specialized in the quaint art of letras y figuras, in which a full name was exquisitely spelled out with letters formed by vignettes with all kinds of subjects --- people, animals, plants, musical instruments, conveyances, landscape views, etc. These incredibly detailed works charmed the affluent locals who hung them in their reception rooms as well as the expatriate Spaniards and other Europeans who commissioned and brought them home as souvenirs of an exotic Asian sojourn. This utterly charming Views of Manila from the erudite Benito J. Legarda , Jr. collection was likely commissioned by a British or American client. The work in watercolor was signed por Jose Honorato Lozano in elegant script on the lower right side. It is not known how it made its way to Legarda’s collection; it could have been acquired from a prominent Filipino family but it was most likely purchased from leading rare maps and books dealers in the USA or the UK (many of whom were his longtime friends), as were many of Legarda’s Filipiniana collections. This Jose Honorato Lozano Views of Manila stands on its own as a great Filipino work of art and an important, unassailable pictorial document of Spanish Manila as it was in the 1840s, almost two hundred years ago.
José Honorato LOZANO (1815 ou 1821- 1885), attribué à. Indios Tagalos - Gallera. Deux aquarelles sur papier encadrées, titrées. Dimensions: 24x18 cm et 23x17 cm (à vue).
José Honorato Lozano (1821-1885) Three studies of Filipinos: Going to mass; Manila Mestizo – Spanish 1/2 Caste;... pencil, pen and ink, heightened with white and gum arabic on paper each 13 ½ x 10 ¼in. (34.3 x 26.1cm.) (3)
José Honorato Lozano (1821-1885) A Filipino family eating in a carinderia pen and ink and watercolour heightened with white on paper 9 ½ x 12 ¾in. (24.1 x 32.4cm.)
including a riverside view of a house in Manila; the courtyard of the same house; figures preparing rice; two women, one smoking a cigar; a lady and conversing with a farmer; a family boarding a boat; a gentleman holding a cane and parasol; an elegant lady; and a solider armed with a dagger, sword and spear
School of José Honorato Lozano (1821-1885) Letras y Figuras: ‘Francisca Andres’ 19th Century watercolor on paper 16” x 23” (41 cm x 58 cm) P José Honorato Lozano y Asuncion (1821-1885) was born in Manila. Lozano may have been trained by Chinese painters or Filipino painters skilled in Chinese painting techniques; but he may have also trained with Domingo, or someone who studied at his academy. Lozano’s common folk are quite similar in perspective, lighting and over-all treatment to Domingo’s, as well as other contemporaries. The Spanish government commissioned Lozano to depict episodes from the history of the colony to be displayed during a fiesta in the district of Santa Cruz, Manila in 1848. In 1859, the writer Rafael Diaz Arenas, mentioned that Lozano was "a watercolourist without rival". Lozano painted in the costumbrismo tradition, (that is, the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primarily on the Hispanic scene, and particularly in the 19th century); thus, supplying the demand from foreign visitors for souvenirs of Manila. He also painted in oil. Lozano is best known as the pioneering practitioner of the art form known as letras y figuras (letters and figures), in which the letters of a patron's name are composed primarily by contoured arrangements of human figures — an art form that was derived from late 18th century French graphic art. Lozano however, surrounded the names with vignettes of scenes in Manila. It is his ability to present individual characters within the context of the larger narrative that Lozano exceeds the talents of Domingo and his other predecessors and contemporaries. His albums depict not only individuals in their various occupations, but whole scenes where we see the style in which Filipinos — rich and poor — lived, much like candid photographs of everyday lives. The Señora Doña’s first name ‘Francisca’ is spelled out against a festive background, perhaps an important Spanish holiday: The windows of the stone houses feature the scarlet and gold of the Bandera Español. In the street, maidens and musicians are the curves and pillars of her name. The last name ‘Andres’ is set against the walled city of Intramuros, a reference to San Andres, who is the patron saint of Manila. (A majestic crested gate is in the background as well. ) A streetlight, a man dressed as the god of plenty, and several potted plants in full flower accent the surname. Between both names appears to be the Rio Pasig, overflowing its banks, another symbol of plenty.
Jose Honorato Lozano (1815 - 1885) Tipos del Pais Mid-19th Century watercolor on paper 10" x 8" (25 cm x 20 cm) each Property from the Dr. Alejandro R. Roces collection
