Artist: Unattributed Title: Head of the Virgin Date: 17th century Location: Philippines Materials & technique: Carved ivory, metal, paste, silk, metal lace. Dimensions: 27.1 × 12 × 12 cm (overall) 10.5593 x 4.724 x 4.724 inches (overall) Collection: National Gallery of Victoria, Bequest of Howard Spensley, 4121.a-c-D3. This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Gordon Darling Foundation.
The use of Spanish colonialism to indoctrinate and commercialize the Philippines with Christianity, while later capitalizing the country by using the area as a global economic hub, centering Catholic iconographic ivories. By exemplifying the Christian faith through the trade of the carved ivory heads and hands, used in the imagen de vestir, translating roughly to image to be dressed, also called images de vestidos, tradition in New Spain, we can see the impact of Spanish colonization.
With the introduction of Catholicism into Southeast Asia by the Spanish, the use of the Manila Galleon trade capitalized on the production of religious artifacts through the work of Hokkien merchants. In a similar way to the use of the contemporary American industry outsourcing labor. Spanish traders were so instrumental in the acquisition of carved ivory, so much so that many ivory pieces were considered Spanish production rather than Southeast Asian.
The Head of the Virgin as a Catholic iconographic piece has Asian physiognomic qualities. This is due to the fact that production most likely originated in China and was later exported from Manila in the Philippines. As a piece that was most likely created for the tradition of imagen de vestir, the catered piece exemplifies the influence of the Spanish on Southeast Asia. The introduction of Catholicism, brought by the Portuguese trader Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 has had contemporary impacts. Namely, 90% of the country identified themselves as Catholic Christians as of the year 2000.
The extent of Spanish influence on the Chinese craft is witnessed across Southeast Asain, namely: Fil-Hispanic, Fuijan or Macao, Indo-Portuguese, and Singhalese-Portuguese; all of which have geographically artistic defining characteristics delineating origin, such as high ridged eyebrows or almond shaped eyes. The widespread influence of carved ivory in use of religious artifacts shows the breadth that Spanish colonization has had on the indoctrination of Southeast Asia culturally and economically through the Manila Galleon trade.
Sources:
Hoh, Anchi. “Catholicism in the Philippines during the Spanish Colonial Period 1521-1898.” Library of Congress, Https://Blogs.loc.gov/International-Collections/2018/07/Catholicism-in-the-Philippines-during-the-Spanish-Colonial-Period-1521-1898/, 10 July 2018, 4 Corners of the World. Accessed 20 Feb. 2022
Park, Jessie. “Made by Migrants: Southeast Asian Ivories for Local and Global Markets, Ca. 1590–1640.” Taylor & Francis, Taylor & Francis, 25 Nov. 2020, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00043079.2020.1765636.
Pereira, Diana. “Healing Touch: Clothed Images of the Virgin in Early Modern Portugal.” Ikonotheka, no. 29, 16 Sept. 2020, pp. 51–78., https://doi.org/10.31338/2657-6015ik.29.7.
Martin, Matthew. "Head of the Virgin Ivory - Foreign Bodies". Connecting Collections. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
Author Bio:
Tyrell Setness is a Senior at Concordia College at Moorhead majoring in Art and Political Science and minoring in Social Activism and Philosophy. Tyrell is from Fargo, North Dakota and plans to graduate in May of 2022. After graduation he plans to move to Seattle before applying to graduate school in 2023.