PROPERTY FORMERLY IN THE ROMEO JORGE COLLECTION
A Bishop's Chair
first half of the 19th century
baticuling wood with original polychromy and gilding Southern Luzon
height: 44" (112 cm) width: 22" (56 cm) length: 32" (81 cm)


PROVENANCE: León Gallery, The Kingly Treasures Auction,Makati City, 30 November 2019, Lot 136.



This ecclesiastical armchair has a round red upholstered back surrounded by carved pierce-work floral and foliate forms surmounted by a small crest of pierce-work flowers and leaves. From the crest descend widening arms with ropetwist detail on both sides supported by truncated balusters. The upholstered seat is underlined by a border of egg and dart motifs supported by baluster legs. The chair still has traces of its original polychromy and gilding. These ecclesiastical armchairs were usually polychromed, parcel-gilded, and upholstered in red velvet and passementerie as they sat in threes in the sanctuaries (altar areas) of Roman Catholic churches. These big armchairs were desirable status symbols during the Marcos era antique buying spree. They were displayed as pairs in foyers/entrance halls and in fashionably crammed living rooms, often on the corners of Oriental rugs. Current research is being done on the salient as well as inconspicuous features of these ecclesiastical armchairs which could possibly identify them as the former properties of specific religious orders like the Augustinians, Dominicans, Jesuits, Franciscans, and Augustinian Recollects. It is possible to classify them by order, province/region, material, and finish because they all have distinguishing features which only need to be recognized by the researchers. There are several magnificent examples of bishop’s chairs from the Augustinian, Dominican, Jesuit, Franciscan, and Augustinian Recollect orders in the Paulino and Hetty Que collection. There are also splendid examples in the San Agustin Church and Convent Museum Collection