Martin I. Tinio, Jr.

Martin Jesus Imperial Tadeo Tinio Jr. (September 9, 1953 – July 9, 2019), more popularly known as Sonny Tinio, was a Filipino antiquarian, art historian, interior designer, architect, author, and cultural worker. He was best known for chronicling the history of Philippine colonial architecture and Philippine antiquities in various publications in both the Philippines and overseas.

Early life and career Tinio was born in Makati on September 9, 1953, to Martin Huerta Tinio and Benita Imperial of Nueva Ecija being the 11th of 13th children. Their family are direct descendants of the Philippine revolutionary general Manuel Tinio, who was the youngest general during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War and was Tinio' paternal grandfather. He subsequently married Maria Virginia Teehankee.

He finished his primary and secondary education at the De La Salle College in Manila and later took preparatory courses at the Institut Minerva, a vocational school in Zürich, Switzerland. He subsequently graduated with a bachelor's degree in commerce, at the New York University in 1965. He was well-versed in reading in eight languages including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Bikolano, Tagalog and Arabic. Prior to his death in 2019, Tinio served as the curator and consultant for the ecclesiastical collection of the colonial silver and furniture of the IA presently displayed at the Museo de Intramuros. He also served as the main curator for the Museo de Malacañang (present-day the Presidential Museum and Library) and helped in the redecoration of the halls based on architectural research from the National Archives of the Philippines.

He also served in various capacities as an independent curator, and consultant for several public and private institutions including the Ayala Museum, the Lopez Museum, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the Museo De La Salle of the De La Salle University – Dasmariñas, the Museo ng Kaalamang Katutubo, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers (PIID).

From 2013 until his death in 2019, Tinio later served as a historical consultant for Leon Gallery Fine Art and Antiques, one of the leading auction houses in the Philippines, and wrote essays on Philippine ecclesiastical art and colonial furniture and wrote essays for their auction catalogs.

Tinio has written for numerous publications centered on his research and expertise on Philippine colonial furniture, religious imagery, ecclesiastical art and colonial silver that included Turn of the Century (published in 1978; co-authored and edited by Gilda Cordero-Fernando and Nik Ricio), Sanctuary Silver (published in 1981), Philippine Religious Images in Ivory (published in 1982; co-authored with Esperanza Buñag Gatbonton), Likha – Enduring Legacies of Filipino Artistry: The Decorative Arts Collection of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (2017; co-author and edited by Ramon Villegas) and countless contributions in various magazines, auction catalogs, and newspaper articles. In 2007, Tinio contributed to writing the chapter on Philippine furniture of Asian Furniture: A Directory and Sourcebook (published in 2007), a comprehensive guide on the history of antique Asian furniture.

Interior designer and architectural historian As a leading historical consultant on Philippine colonial architecture and furniture, Tinio dabbled as an interior designer and restorationist architect particularly on the interiors of 19th-century Philippine ancestral houses. He spearheaded in the restoration of the Villavicencio-Marella House in Taal, Batangas and the Baldomero Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite.