18th Century Spanish Colonial Santos Church Altar Torchère

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Description

An impressive Spanish Colonial santos figure church altar stick (candle holder), handcrafted in Mexico, in the 18th century, possibly earlier. … Read more An impressive Spanish Colonial santos figure church altar stick (candle holder), handcrafted in Mexico, in the 18th century, possibly earlier. Constructed in plaster, with hand carved, gilded wood accents, having wonderful, polychrome paint with beautiful coloring, elegantly aged, faded, distressed having spectacular warm, rustic patina over the whole.

The large antique Mexican religious folk art statue is realistic in style, and of the highest artistic expression and craftsmanship, this statue features santos figure dressed in highly detailed period dress, elaborately decorated with gold leaf and polychromed with extensive remnants of original paint remaining. With a stately stance, his expression regal and serene, illuminating the way he holds a torchère torch candle lamp with metal pricket overhead, proudly standing on a angel face putti medallion embellished shaped parcel gilt plinth base. A stunning piece of the colonial art at its best.

Provenance:
The Estate of Drs. Frank and Barbara Pino of San Antonio, TX

Frank Pino (1942-2019) descended from among the early founders of New Mexico. He held the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Arizona State University and a Ph.D in Romance Languages from Northwestern University. He was on the faculty of Michigan State University and then at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he was recruited by Dr. Tomas Rivera to join the Division of Foreign Languages. He served in various administrative posts, including sixteen years as director of the Division of Foreign Languages, where he also taught upper-level and graduate classes in Hispanic Culture and Literature, including Chicano Literature.
He was a founding faculty member and served thirty-nine years. Frank was a poet and created several collections of poetry in both English and Spanish.

Barbara Kay Vordenbaum Pino, Ph.D. (1941-2020). Barbara attended San Antonio public schools, graduating Valedictorian from Thomas Jefferson High School to which she later returned as a Teacher of French and Spanish. After earning a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, she became a Professor of Spanish and Education at Southwest Texas State University. She was a member of the founding faculty of the University of Texas at San Antonio where she taught for more than 30 years until her retirement as Associate Professor Emerita.

In 1984, she married Dr. Frank Pino, Jr., the Chairman of the Foreign Language Division at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Both Drs. Frank and Barbara Pino were scholars and patrons of Hispanic Culture in San Antonio and Texas. He and his wife, Barbara were avid collectors of Mexican Folk art. See less