Isabelo Tampinco Collection, descriptions.: TOLENTINO. “ Don Crisostomo." Same sculpture, different signature?

The Collectors Collector.. Same sculpture, different signature?

I want to introduce you today to a very beautiful Tolentino sculpture, “ Don Crisostmo.”

Guillermo E Tolentino is a National Artist of the Philippines so I thought that he was the best one to use as an example of a little controversy that there is regarding many sculptures that have been done by the four most well known classical sculptors, Tampinco, Tolentino, Monti and Caedo.

So first let me describe this beautiful sculpture to you.

GUILLERMO E. TOLENTINO

title “ Don Crisostomo “

cast marble

Sculpture :- 53cm high x 52cm wide x 26cm deep

Base :- 54cm high x 28cm deep x 1.5cm thick.

Signed,.. G E Tolentino.

This is the male head and torso of the character from Jose Rizal's book “ Noli me Tangere “, in the book his full name is Don Crisostmo Ibarra, which Tolentino called “ Don Crisostomo.”

His face is calm and the eyes are closed a very placid with the slightly tilted to the right and facing down a little.

The hair is clearly defined and swept back over the right side of his head.

The hair is over the top of the right ear and above the left ear and is sculpted to show the waves in his hair.

The arms and chest are cut off approximately under the chest area, just below the pectoral muscles.

The base is cut to the form of the sculpture in wood, it is 1cm thick and approximately 1cm to 2cm wider than the sculpture.

It is painted black.

The signature is in the center of the back above the base.

The signature reads..... “ Don Crisostomo “

G. E. Tolentino

Manila

1948

Distinguishing marks.

There are no distinguishing marks under the wooden base.

There are no distinguishing marks on the sculpture, only normal marks from the making of the

sculpture.

IMPORTANT NOTE.

This sculpture is a direct copy of a Tampinco sculpture that was made 63 years earlier.

The Tampinco sculpture was signed in this manner.....

“ADONIS”

Figura de Tampinco

Binondo, Mla.

1885

What does this mean for this sculpture?

I had a long conversation with a gentleman who was a friend of Caedo and he said that this was normal practice between the sculptors who worked with Tampinco and each other.

Tolentino, Monti and Caedo they all had excess to the original Tampincos and copied them in detail and made there own casts and signed them with there own names. That is why we have what seemingly looks to be the same sculptures but with different names.

The gentleman who knew Caedo very well said that every new cast was a new sculpture, different from all the others like it and before it, as they all have there own subtle differences and vagaries.

I have been challenged about a sculpture that looked exactly the same as another, one was signed Tampinco and one was signed Monti, but on close examination there were slight differences.

Once these little differences were pointed out, the person in question could see the subtleness of each piece and could see that examining each carefully, does make a difference and it can easily be seen in this instance that Monti copied in minute detail from the Master, Tampinco.

This gentleman who knew Caedo was adamant that this was normal practice and they all did it and signed the pieces with there own names.

He said their greatest concern was the finish after the casting as this had to be done properly or it could ruin the sculpture.

He also told me that the marble dust that was used in all these sculptures is from Carrara in Italy, that it was imported into the Philippines for this specific purpose.

The controversy of the same sculpture but different names signed on it is explained now.

All these notable sculptors had access to the works of the Master Tampinco and copied his work. Once copied in minute detail they then signed it with there own names.

If they were to have signed them with Tampincos name then they would have been forgeries and fakes, but as they signed them with there own names openly without trying to pass them off as Tampincos, shows their honesty and openness and this practice must have had Tampincos blessing as there is nothing written or known to contradict it.

I do hope this article has been a help to those collectors who have been concerned about what looks like the same sculpture but signed with different names. I have talked about “ buyer beware”, in this case there is an explanation.

If you have any other information about this subject, then please send it to me or if you would like to comment and give your opinion then please contact me and tell me what you think.

Mark E Shellshear.

Art Consultant.
markshellshear@gmail.com