Andres Bonifacio’s personal Katipunan flag sells for P9.3M in auction
SOLD. Andres Bonifacio's personal Katipunan flag fetches a high price at Leon Gallery's Magnificent Seven auction. Photo courtesy of Leon Gallery
MANILA, Philippines – Andres Bonifacio’s personal Katipunan flag fetched P9.3 million at an auction by the Leon Gallery held in Makati on September 8. The price it sold for is over 9 times more than its starting price of P1,000,000.
The auction results were published on Leon Gallery's website.
The flag is supposedly the first Katipunan flag to be made, and is believed to have been sewn by Bonifacio’s wife Gregoria de Jesus.
After Bonifacio’s death, De Jesus gave the flag as a gift to Don Antonio Santos Bautista, an early joiner of the Katipunan. It was sold encased in a carved box filled with silver fabric flowers, and marked with the year 1896.
The auction included several other historical pieces that were taken home at prices much higher than their starting bids.
The “Decalogue” or Ten Commandments of the Katipunan, handwritten by Bonifacio himself, sold for P2.5 million from a starting bid of P1.2 million.
Katipunan membership documents that started at a bid of P100,000 were sold for P817,600.
A pair of Epaulets believed to be taken from a fallen Lieutenant Colonel from the December 1899 Battle of Tirad Pass was sold for P5.1 million, along with design sketches by Juan Luna and other documents related to the Philippine Revolution. Starting bid for the lot was at P500,000.
A letter from Jose Rizal’s wife Josephine Bracken to Emilio Aguinaldo went for P1,051,200, from a starting bid of P200,000.
The auction pushed through despite a reported appeal from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines for it to stop. – Rappler.com
