Views in the Philippines

A rare set of early topographical views of the Philippines, concentrating on the countryside and islands beyond metropolitan Manila. The drawings, the earliest dated view 1830, may be by the draughtsmen of the Office of Maps (delineadores del Depósito Topográfico). The scenery ranges from the northernmost islands (Itbayat in the Batan Islands, the first two views on sheet 1), to views on the island of Luzon and throughout the southern Philippines. The provincial emphasis of this group, and its emergence from northern Spain, suggest the collection may have originated with one of the early Basque emigrants to the islands. This is reinforced by the subject of sheet 6, the house of Iñigo González Azaola, who was a Basque coffee planter in Tayabas, south east of Manila (now Quezon province). The present views were included in a portfolio with a collection of eleven unpublished watercolours by José Honorato Lozano (yet to be granted an export license by the Spanish authorities), which, significantly, and almost uniquely amongst his know work, depict provincial subjects rather than the more usual metropolitan scenery demanded by his clients visiting Manila – thereby complementing these provincial views and further iterating the probable Basque provenance of the collection.

The first wave of Basque settlers concentrated in Manila, where they established trading companies, but the second wave, arriving in the 1820s, and in the 1830s in the wake of the First Carlist War (the approximate start date for the present works), headed for the provinces, looking to exploit the potential of underdeveloped lands. They became involved in sugar, abaca (Manila hemp), tobacco and coffee production: ‘The settlement and development of hitherto unexplored lands, particularly in Bicol, Negros, Panay, and the hinterlands of eastern Mindanao, gave a new impetus to the colonization and development of the areas with an eye toward commercial ventures. Some Basques would practically hack their way into the thicket of lush forest and grasslands to establish settlements and plantations.’ (M.R.de Borja, Basques in the Philippines, Nevada, 2005, pp.88-9)


The thirty-one views comprise:
Sheet 1
Vista del Pueblo de Sta Rosa, Ysla de Ytbagat: una de las Batanes 1830
(Kaynatuan, Itbayat, province of Batanes, northern Philippines)
Vista del Pueblo de Sta Lucia de Cogogasan. Ysla de Ytbayat
(Kauhauhasan, Itbayat, province of Batanes, northern Philippines)
Vista del Volcan de Bulusan, tomada desde Sorsogon
(Luzon island)

Sheet 2
Vista del Monte Yriga e cercanias de Polangui
(Mount Iriga or Asog, Luzon, Camerines Sur)
Vista de la Punta Banduins tomada desde S. Fernando.
(province of Pampanga, central Luzon)
Vista de las Tetas de Palantuna tomada desde las cercanias de Magardo

Sheet 3
Vista de la Sierra de Colasi tomada desde Cabusao
(Camerines Norte and Camerines Sur)
Vista de la casa de Dn M. Zaragoza en Sta Ana 1841, tomada desde las cercanias de Magardo

Sheet 4
[A church in the Philippines]
Vista del Pueblo de San Carlos, Ysla de Basay: una de las Batanes 1830
(province of Batanes, northern Philippines)

Sheets 5-6
Vista del Ysarog tomada desde Cabusao
(Camerines Sur, Luzon)
Vista de la Casa Hacienda de D. Ynigo. G. Azaola - 1830
(Tayabas, Quezon Province)

Sheet 7
Vista del Monte Iriga tomada desde el Calvario demorando al N46°E distancia 26 millas
(Camerines Sur, southern Luzon)
Vista del Monte Iriga tomada desde la Laguna de Buhi demorando al N12°O distancia 45 millas
Vista del Pueblo de Buhi desde la Laguna.
(St Francis of Assisi parish church, Camerines Sur)

Sheet 8
Vista de la Silanga de Mambulao
(Quezon)
Vista de Masaisai o monte de Tayabas tomado desde el seno del mismo nombre.
Vista del Convento de Naga y enfernmeria de los P.P. Franciscos tomada desde la Casa R?
(Cebu, Camerines Sur)

Sheet 9
Vista de la Sierra de Colasi tomada de las cercanías de Magarao
(Camerines Norte)
Vista de la población y ensenada de MAMBULAO
Vista de las ruinas de la Yglesia de Minalabag
(Camerines Sur)
Yglesia de Mambulao Vista desde el Castillo

Sheet 10
Vista del Monte Masaraga y el Buhi tomada desde Ligao
(province of Albay, Luzon)
Vista de Masaraga y Volcan de Albay tomada desde la torre de Nabua
Vista del Volcan de Albay tomada desde Ligao

Sheet 11
[Panoramic landscape]


Sheet 12
Vista del Pueblo de Canava[?] de la cordillera de las Tetas de Santa, Provincia de Ilocos Sur, desde la casa de Campo del Cor? Dn Miguel de la Piedra 1834

Sheet 13
Vista del Volcan Mayon de Albay y cercanias de Polongui
Vista del Monte Isarog y de la cadena de Adangan tomada desde el Monte Calvario en Iriga demorando el 1°N.2°O distancia 12y½ millas

Sheet 14
Vista de la Iglesia de Oas y de los Volcanes Masaraga y Mayon en Albay
Vista del (mayon) Volcan de Albay desde Guinobatan
(Luzon)