{{Short description|Philippine architectural feature}} {{use mdy dates|date=August 2024}} thumb|A closed capiz-shell window
In Philippine architecture, the '''capiz shell window''' is a type of window with small panes that use the translucent and durable ''capiz'' shell (windowpane oyster shell) instead of glass. The Chinese were presumably the first to use the shell, the dissemination of which use has been credited to the Portuguese; extensive and widespread use of the shell for windows and other handicraft products as a substitute for the then more scarce and more expensive glass was seen in Portuguese settlements as well as in India in the 17th century.<ref name=":Rustiaetal">{{Cite book |last1=Rustia |first1=Jessica M. |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373615716 |title=History and Prospects for Sustainability and Circularity of the Windowpane Oyster Placuna placenta Fishery in the Philippines |last2=Antonino |first2=Judith P. |last3=Velasco |first3=Ravelina R. |last4=Lima |first4=Marcelo A. |last5=Yates |first5=Edwin Alexander |last6=Fernig |first6=David G. |date=August 31, 2023 |location= |publication-date=August 31, 2023 |language=English}}</ref>
During the length of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, churches and homes used the ''capiz'' shell for windowpanes, cabinet decorations, and handicrafts starting in 1755, while before this period the seashell was only used widely in the decoration of weapons, clothes, and trading goods. It is believed that the shell was first used architecturally in the making of slide windows for the churches of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Philippine text history confirms the continued popularity of the ''capiz'' shell as a Philippine architectural element in the 19th century through the entry "Capiz" in the 1860 edition of ''Vocabolario de la lengua tagala'', the first dictionary of the Tagalog language; the entry for "Capiz" refers to it as "la Ventana" (the Window). Today, the shell is also used in the manufacture of decorative items, including mobiles, chandeliers, Christmas lanterns (the ''parol''), and various other products.<ref name=":arca">{{Cite web |title=Capiz Shell - Arca del Gusto |url=https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/capiz-shell/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=Slow Food Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":Rustiaetal" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=matichub |date=2021-03-14 |title=Capiz Shells (Placuna placenta) |url=https://maticph.wordpress.com/2021/03/14/capiz-shells-placuna-placenta/ |access-date=2024-08-09 |website=Matic Hub |language=en}}</ref>
thumb|A piece of ''capiz'' shell|left
Panels from the early centuries of capiz-shell window-making show tight mortise and tenon lap joints on the frames, done using only chisels and hardwood dowels. The lattice work often show the delicate ''capiz'' shell inserted into a less than 1/16" groove.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-08-17 |title=Capiz Windows - A new look from long before I was born |url=https://www.lumberjocks.com/showcase/capiz-windows-a-new-look-from-long-before-i-was-born.45201/ |access-date=2024-08-09 |website=LumberJocks Woodworking Forum |language=en-US |archive-date=August 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809074353/https://www.lumberjocks.com/showcase/capiz-windows-a-new-look-from-long-before-i-was-born.45201/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The flat shells of Capiz, the Philippine province where the oyster is most abundant and after which the Philippine windowpane oyster has been called, can grow to over 150 mm in diameter, reaching maturity between 70 and 100 mm, making the size of the panes of Philippine capiz-shell windows variable.<ref name=":arca" /><ref name="MSL">[http://www.malacsoc.org.uk/malacological_bulletin/Mini-Reviews/3Aquaculture/Aquaculture.htm "Fisheries and aquaculture of window-pane shells"]. Malacological Society of London. Retrieved on 2011-10-23.</ref>
On June 12, 2020, the National Museum of the Philippines launched an online exhibition titled "Placuna placenta: Capis Shells and Windows to Indigenous Artistry" alongside other government institutions' celebrations commemorating the 122nd anniversary of Philippine independence.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTpyLDCaero |title=Placuna placenta: Capis Shells and Windows to Indigenous Artistry |date=2020-06-11 |last=National Museum of the Philippines |access-date=2024-08-09 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
== ''Bahay na bato'' == thumb|upright=0.6|Close-up of the panes of a capiz-shell window panel
In 19th-century Philippine colonial architecture, ''bahay na bato'' houses extensively used the capiz-shell window element. Designed to take advantage of tropical cool breezes, these houses' large windows were built at least a meter high and as wide as five meters. The typically sliding panels with ''conchas'' or lattice work (muntins) that would carry the windows' ''capis'' panes would be drawn shut when there is too much wind, with the house still taking in daylight during the storm.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Capiz Shell Use in Laurel House - 01 PDF {{!}} PDF {{!}} Window {{!}} Art Media |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/440466259/CAPIZ-SHELL-USE-IN-LAUREL-HOUSE-01-pdf |access-date=2024-08-09 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref>
== Shell sources == In the year 2000, there were at least 27 natural ''kapis'' beds in the Philippines, the major sources being in Sapian Bay and Roxas City, Capiz; Oton and Tigbauan, Iloilo; San Miguel Bay in Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur; Hinigaran and Pontevedra, Negros Occidental; Mangarin Bay in Mindoro Occidental; and Panguil Bay in Misamis Occidental.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Adan |first=RIY |date=July–August 2000 |title=The window-pane (kapis shell) industry |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/33722599.pdf |journal=SEAFDEC Asian Aquaculture |volume=XXII |issue=4 |pages=23 and 31 |via=Core.ac.uk}}</ref>
== Gallery == <gallery widths="150"> File:JC Fernandez 4.JPG|A man repainting the frames and muntins of three capiz-shell window sashes. File:Capiz Windows with Grills.jpg|Las Piñas Gabaldon Hall's row of capiz-shell windows with grills File:Camarines Sur National High Schoolmain Building-capiz window.jpg|A Camarines Sur high-school building's large capiz-shell window File:Pulong Kabyawan Agricultural Farm 32.jpg|''Bahay kubo'' interior featuring sliding capiz shell windows File:Capiz shell window, Taal Basilica side tower.jpg|A capiz shell window on a side tower of the Taal Basilica in Taal, Batangas File:Interior, Casa Manila, 2025.jpg|View of a capiz shell window and its ventanilla from inside the third floor of Casa Manila File:Capiz shell window panel repurposed as a portable partition.jpg|A disused panel from a capiz shell window repurposed as a ''tsuitate'' </gallery>
== See also == * Ventanilla * Gabaldon School Buildings
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
== External links == * {{Commons category-inline|Capiz windows in the Philippines}} * [https://images.thdstatic.com/catalog/pdfImages/ce/cecf547c-b4c0-4227-9d45-0a127423020d.pdf Guide to capiz shell furniture maintenance]
Category:Philippine architectural features Category:Houses in the Philippines Category:Bahay na bato Category:Vernacular architecture Category:Windows Category:Window coverings