A director’s glass menagerie
Monino Duque explains: “I intend to complete my perfectly matched dinner sets to complement the crystal pieces I have grouped together for a chandelier atop my dining table.”
The contrast was a statement on the lifestyle of an era gone by. Lush foliage served as a backdrop to glass and crystal that exuded its own magical light in the mid-afternoon. The choice of furniture was appropriate and tastefully put together.
Monino Duque, glass collector extraordinaire, welcomed us with warmth and enthusiasm. For the most part, his home is a great camouflage, hiding the chaos of the barangay. Within the confines of Monino’s home, one can easily detect the artistry, the creativity, dynamism and brilliance of an industry legend. A director, cinematographer and light designer formerly with the Cultural Center of the Philippines, his abode effectively communicates to the visitor the inner magic in the soul of an early 20th century Depression-era glass collector.
“Three years ago, I started purchasing colored chandelier crystals in different shapes and sizes. It was fascinating to find colored crystals as I waded through a maze of flea markets, garage sales and Salvation Army outlets,” stated Monino. There was no substitute for actual time, sweat and money invested by Monino in the accumulation of crystals that has become more than just a collection. The blending of colors might be considered unorthodox; but as they are there to depict his particular lifestyle, every piece fits perfectly to form a complete puzzle, and one wouldn’t have it any other way. “For more than 15 years, I have been fascinated with crystal and colored glass. Prisms and colors evoke a certain kind of magic, something whimsical, and as a lighting designer, I always use these as take-off points when lighting a play, dance or opera, or even scenes of teleseryes that I have worked on. It is collecting memories that colors evoke and nothing is more magical than prisms and colored glass. Unfortunately, I only started actively collecting a few years ago,” he added.
To think that glass is simply made from liquid sand, a compound of limestone, soda ash and its main ingredient, silica, fired at 1,700 degrees Celsius! They are all natural components: fire and sand. That’s why it is so natural for anything and everything to blend in with glass.
Crystal contains less than 24 percent lead, yet it produces a musical tone if a wet finger is run around the rim of a glass, and crystal can be worked thinner than glass. On the other hand, glass used for making figures contains up to 49 percent lead to achieve maximum malleability. That’s how you can tell the difference between glass and crystal.
It was a grand welcome, indeed. Monino’s colorful collection was artistically and creatively laid out on the dining table, picking up and reflecting the rays of the afternoon sun and filling the whole house with playful light. The pieces were magnified even more by the bright colors of glass rendered in different hues and combinations. Pieces in pink, burgundy, red, green, amber, yellow, and the most popular, cobalt blue, from opaque to transparent, evoke the senses of the period from the 1920s well into the 1960s.
We were treated to a symphony of colors in glass: storage jars, cups and saucers, vintage bottles, plates and fruit bowls, art deco bowls, frosted art glass, carnival glass, art deco glass vases and animals, Czechoslovakian and Bohemian molded glass with patterns and stemware of cut glass. He had it all!
According to Monino, “The Depression-era glassware is my favorite. None of the glass pieces in my collection have price tags, simply because they are too precious for me (to sell). Some are gifts from dear friends, while some may have been bought from a mere dollar store; but the memories they evoke of times past and friendships are priceless.”
During the Great Depression (late 1920s to ‘30s), affordable glass was manufactured to liven up homes where moods were somber and people felt depressed. Today, these almost limitless patterns are in demand, sought by collectors like Monino all over the world
“I intend to complete my perfectly matched dinner sets to complement the crystal pieces I have grouped together for a chandelier atop my dining table. I only have six place settings to date. The glasses are plenty but the plates and soup bowls are a challenge. My goal is to complete a dinner set of 12,” Monino declared.
Carnival glass is quite interesting, too. Although reasonably priced, these pieces are remarkably prized as they have a character of their own. Originally used as prizes in carnivals, they eventually became popular with collectors because of the combination of colors and patterns, swirls and stripes.
Time was when tables were set with damask linen table cloths and napkins, china, silver, crystal and glass — not plastic placemats, paper napkins and plates, stainless steel and paper cups as they are today.
Monino still lives amid that lifestyle today, which I think will soon go the way of the Dodo Bird. Unlike other collectors who keep their prized possessions under lock and key, or use them only for VIP guests, he lives and uses what he collects every day to remind him of the days of yore.
“My collection of glass and crystal is very much a part of me. And here they will stay, at least while I’m around,” mused Monino.
Asked where he plans to travel for his next set of acquisitions, Monino said, “I wish to go to America’s East Coast for the summer and make my way through the garage sales and the flea markets again. Still on my bucket list is to go to Florence, Milan, Venice and the south of Italy, places like Amalfi and Positano; and Madrid, Barcelona and Seville in Spain to check out the summer flea markets and hopefully find glassware that will complete my current collection. I wonder what treasures I will discover and memories will be rekindled.”
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Email the author at nikkicoseteng2017@gmail.com or text her at +63997-433-7154.
