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Description
A narrative ex-voto painted in oil on tin in 1952 for Ponciano Pérez L. of El Grullo, Jalisco, thanking San Miguel Arcángel for saving his baby from typhoid after the doctor said the child would die.
The right half is given to the Archangel in blue tunic and plumed helmet, sword raised and scales in hand, standing over the horned devil in a wall of flame. The left half holds the child himself: an original period photograph of the baby, mounted into the panel inside a painted garland of roses. It measures 12 x 9 inches.
It comes from the same source as the rest of my retablos: one unknown painter who never signed his work and has since died. Families commissioned his pieces and took them to their village churches.
An elderly custodian at one of those churches has been collecting this painter\'s work for decades. A picker who travels the small village churches brought it to my dealer, and my dealer brought it to me.
None of those links is documented on paper, so I give it to you as the path it traveled, not as a chain of title.
The inscription
As painted:
\"gracias San Migue por cuidar a mi Bebe Tenia Tifoidea: el Doctor Dijo Va a morir solo Un milagro lo salvara. El sano Doi gracias a San Miguel arcanjel por curarlo 1952: El grullo Jalisco Ponciano Perez L.\"
In English:
\"Thank you, Saint Michael, for watching over my baby. He had typhoid. The doctor said he was going to die, that only a miracle would save him. He recovered. I give thanks to Saint Michael the Archangel for healing him. 1952. El Grullo, Jalisco. Ponciano Pérez L.\"
The spelling is the painter\'s own: Migue for Miguel, Doi for doy, arcanjel for arcángel, and no accents anywhere. Irregularities like these are part of what makes the piece genuine.
Condition
Good for its age. The painting is strong and the full inscription is legible.
The mounted photograph is browned and stained with scattered small losses, and a horizontal break runs across it and across the painted garland at the same height, where the inset sits in two pieces. There is a nail hole at top center with the tin torn slightly around it, fine scratches through the sky, a few pale flecks of loss, and light bending at the corners.
The verso is bare tin, mostly bright, with rust along the left edge and scattered spots at the right.
Appraisal
Grade: A
A complete narrative ex-voto: the petitioner named, the illness and the doctor\'s verdict recorded, the year and the town given. What lifts it above the rest of the group is the mounted photograph of the child who was healed, set into the tin inside a painted garland. Photo ex-votos are uncommon and collectors pay for them, and San Miguel over the devil is one of the strongest images in the tradition. Graded against realized sales of this painter\'s work.
Gallery replacement value: $675, what it would cost to replace this piece through a gallery, for insurance and estate purposes.
A note on the photographs
One photograph shows the retablo staged for scale. Only the retablo is included.
Shipping and import fees
The price includes DHL Express shipping anywhere in the world, with tracking, packed by Diseños de Cartón in Guadalajara.
Import duty and tax are the buyer\'s responsibility. Tariff code 9701.91, hand-painted original art. Most markets let it in duty-free, and it qualifies for a reduced tax rate wherever one exists.
When it arrives, open the box along the seams; never cut down into it.
If your delivery country differs from your account country, message me before purchasing.
Destination | Import duty | Import tax | Estimated total
United States | 0% | none collected at import | $0
Canada | 0% | 5% GST, or 13–15% HST by province | $18 – $53
United Kingdom | 0% | 5% reduced-rate import VAT on works of art | about $18
European Union | 0% | 5.5% – 13.5% reduced rate, set by your country | $19 – $48
Australia | none on orders under AUD 1,000 | 10% GST, charged at checkout | about $35, paid at checkout
Where tax is collected at delivery, DHL adds a small advancement fee, typically $12 to $20.
Questions
You will always reach a real person, never AI.
God bless,
Ricardo Ivan Cardenas EMBA
St. Joseph\'s University New York Business School Graduate
Item specifics
Type: Painting
Subject: San Miguel Arcángel, baby healed of typhoid
Original/Reproduction: Original
Date of Creation: 1952
Region of Origin: El Grullo, Jalisco, Mexico
Country/Region of Manufacture: Mexico
Material: Tin, Oil, Photograph
Signed: No
Artist: Unsigned by the painter, petitioner named Ponciano Pérez L.
Framing: Unframed
Style: Folk Art, Mexican, Religious
Features: One of a Kind, Dated 1952, Inscribed, Hand Painted, Mounted Photograph
Color: Blue, Red, Green, Cream
Condition: Used
Tariff code: 9701.91
