Material: Silk
Style: Southern Philippines
Size: Length 91 cm, Width 85 cm
Order Number: MHSASPH1

West Mindanao and the neighbouring Sulu Archipelago are the main Muslim communities of the Philippines and the Tausug are one of the most important Muslim weaving groups.

Islam spread rapidly throughout Southeast Asia in the 13th to 15th centuries. Its furthest expansion was in the Philippines. The earliest Islamic communities were established in the Sulu Achipelago in the last quarter of the 13th century.

Islamic states preceded Magellan in the Philippines in 1521. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi established Manila as the Spanish capital in 1571. There were three centuries of warfare between the Spaniards and the Muslims. The states of Sulu and Maguindanao became trading states with contacts in the outside world. This introduced them to new weaving techniques and new styles for clothes, which were reworked to create unique Muslim Philippino textiles.

The Tausug people are the culturally dominant group in the Sulu Archipelago and Sultanate of Jolo. Jolo traded with the Chinese, Arabs and other Asians, who also lived there, which led to diverse forms of dress. Silk came from China. Jolo eventually traded with the Europeans.

Tausug women are among the most accomplished weavers in the country and are renowned for their coloured silk tapestry weave headcloths (pis) and men’s waist sashes (kandit). They used imported Chinese silk. In recent decades they tend to use cotton or polyester yarns.

Kandit and pis are woven using a tapestry technique, which was probably introduced as a result of the Chinese textile trade. The patterns are rigidly geometric, perhaps derived from Indian mandalas. The colours are rainbow-hued.

This Tausug tapestry-woven silk headcloth was an essential part of the ceremonial costume of a Tausug man. A waist-sash of the same technique was used to hold a dagger.  The central design is a mandala and the geometric design (siyabit) is intended as eye-catching decoration.

There is an example in Textiles of Southease Asia, Tradition, Trade and Transformation, Robyn Maxwell, Periplus Editions, 2003, page 203.

Early 20th century.

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Material: Cotton, mother of pearl beads
Style: Southern Philippines
Size: Arms: Height 13 cm, Length 112 cm; Body: Height 39 cm, Width 36 cm
Order Number: MHSASPJ1

The  B`laan are a tribal community of Southern Mindanao. They live around Lake Sebu and other municipalities of South Cotabato and are one of the major non-Islamic tribal groups in the Southern Philippines. They carry out rituals for nearly everything because of their belief on the supremacy of the great Creator named Malu or D’wata. Men and women shave  their eyebrows and blacken their tongues and file their incisors.

The B’laan people share many cultural features with neighbouring groups. The quality and sophistication of their textiles was second to none in the region. Their name may be from derived from ‘bla’ meaning ‘opponent’ and ‘an’ meaning ‘people.’

It is sometimes difficult to tell B’laan and Bagobo textiles apart. The Bagobo people live on the south and east slopes of Mount Apo, the highest peak in the Philippines, down to the shore of the Davao Gulf in Mindanao. They concentrated their artistic creativity on clothes and personal adornment. They wore splendid garments during their ceremonies.

The B’laan were timid and there are very few photographs of them. They are famous for their beadwork and wear colourful costumes with beadwork accessories. 

This woman’s jacket/blouse is an old B’laan piece called an albong takmun, elaborately decorated with mother of pearl shells, which were highly prized. The pronounced pattern is geometrically abstract and the jacket is heavy. It is striking in its simple beauty. Women’s jackets are similar in shape to those of the men, but they are closed in front so that they have to be slipped on over the head. This is a woman’s jacket.

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Material: Abaca
Style: Southern Philippines
Size: Length 160 cm, Width 145 cm
Order Number: MHSASPB1

The Mandaya people are the main group living in the mountains separating Davao Gulf from the Pacific. They were there before the first Spaniards arrived in Mindanao in the 17th century. The word ‘Mandaya’ comes from the word man, meaning ‘first’ and daya, meaning ‘upstream’. Mandaya means ‘the first upstream people’.

Mandaya women produce abaca ikat cloth called dagmay, their traditional textile, which they consider sacred. It is similar in colour and appearance to ikat cloth made on the west side of Davao Gulf, but the patterns are different.

According to tradition, dagmay was gifted to the Mandaya by Tagamaling, a spirit associated with life and creation. They believe a young girl dreamt of Tagamaling who taught her how to weave dagmay. From then the Mandaya believed that weaving was sacred and they pray before starting to weave and only weave in the upper, quiet parts of the house.

Dagmay is a mud-dyeing technique. Abaca is the extracted fiber from banana leaves. The finest grade of hemp from abaca stalks is stripped, pounded, combed and then prepared for dyeing. The dyer submerges the tannin-dyed yarns into iron-rich mud for several days. First, they pound the bark of a tree and boil it with the abaca yarn. They add the mud with a bluish color and let the yarn boil until the desired tone is achieved.

The Mandaya women then weave the fiber into intricate patterns illustrating their beliefs. The skill is passed down from one generation to the next, but there are few left who can do it.

Dagmay are  women’s skirts, blankets, and are used to wrap the dead. They should not be desecrated by tearing them apart or cutting them. This example is a tube sarong, which has been opened up to give one flat piece. It could be used as a blanket.

The patterns and details are intricate and the textiles are among the most beautiful in the Philippines. The traditional designs are human beings, who represent the tribe or Tagamaling, crocodiles, which are guardians and protectors, curvilinear, diamond, trellis and cross patterns. Most of the designs come to them in dreams. There are no pattern books.

Late 19th century.

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Material: Abaca, beads
Style: Southern Philippines
Size: Height 58 cm, Width 42 cm (waist)
Order Number: MHSASPT1

The Bagobo people live on the south and east slopes of Mount Apo, the highest peak in the Philippines, down to the shore of the Davao Gulf in Mindanao. They concentrated their artistic creativity on clothes and personal adornment. They wore splendid garments during their ceremonies.

Their society was stratified into four segments:  chieftains or datu, head hunting warriors or magani, commoners and slaves. Clothing was closely related to status and special cloths were reserved for chieftains and warriors.

There are now about ten or twelve thousand of them. They are short and skinny, broad-headed, and with a light reddish-brown complexion. They practise agriculture, hunt and fish. Their main crop is rice.

Abaca is the extracted fiber from banana leaves. The finest grade of hemp from abaca stalks is stripped, pounded, combed and then prepared for dyeing.

Bagobo men’s trousers (saroar) are nearly all of a similar cut, but they are made from a variety of abaca fabrics. Sometimes it is plain, but more often stripes or checks. The added embroidery, appliqué and beadwork make every pair of trousers a unique work of art.

The large gusset in the crotch is typical of Middle Eastern tailoring and is an example of Islamic Mindanao dress.

There is an example of a very similar one in the Fowler Museum of Cultural History in From the Rainbow’s Varied Hue, Textiles of the Southern Philippines, edited by Roy W. Hamilton, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1998, page 22, but this one has more elaborate decoration.

Late 19th century.

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Material: Silk
Style: Southern Philippines
Size: Length 144 cm, Width 79 cm
Order Number: MHSASPTS1

The Maranao never had their own state, like Sulu, but lived in a number of small locations around Lake Lanao. Their main focus was the torogan, a large, richly decorated, single open room house, where the sultan and his extended family lived. Separate bedsteads around the walls were covered with embroidered canopies.

The handwoven tubular malong, worn by women and men, over short trousers, is regarded as the Maranao’s crowning achievement. There are over 100 styles. This one is malong a langkit, the making of which, on a small body-tension loom, is regarded as a special, advanced skill. The tapestry bands are a unique variation of the use of tapestry in other Muslim parts of the Philippines.

Handwoven malong are rarely seen these days, except on special occasions. High quality silk yarns have not been available since World War II.

This malong has tapestry-weave panels, continuous horizontal panels of purple with banded edging of blue-violet hues, and classic muted colours, light and airy patterning. The condition is very fine and even.

1930s – 1940s.

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Material: Cotton
Style: Southern Philippines
Size: Length 161 cm, Width 86 cm
Order Number: MHSASPTS2

The Maranao never had their own state, like Sulu, but lived in a number of small locations around Lake Lanao. Their main focus was the torogan, a large, richly decorated, single open room house, where the sultan and his extended family lived. Separate bedsteads around the walls were covered with embroidered canopies.

The handwoven tubular malong, worn by women and men, over short trousers, is regarded as the Maranao’s crowning achievement. There are over 100 styles.

Handwoven malong are rarely seen these days, except on special occasions. High quality silk yarns have not been available since World War II.

1930s – 1940s.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Southern Philippines Tube Sarong 2 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silk
Style: Southern Philippines
Size: Length 236 cm, Width 32 cm
Order Number: MHSASPWS1

West Mindanao and the neighbouring Sulu Archipelago are the main Muslim communities of the Philippines and the Tausug are one of the most important Muslim weaving groups.

Islam spread rapidly throughout Southeast Asia in the 13th to 15th centuries. Its furthest expansion was in the Philippines. The earliest Islamic communities were established in the Sulu Achipelago in the last quarter of the 13th century.

Islamic states preceded Magellan in the Philippines in 1521. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi established Manila as the Spanish capital in 1571. There were three centuries of warfare between the Spaniards and the Muslims. The states of Sulu and Maguindanao became trading states with contacts in the outside world. This introduced them to new weaving techniques and new styles for clothes, which were reworked to create unique Muslim Philippino textiles.

The Tausug people are the culturally dominant group in the Sulu Archipelago and Sultanate of Jolo. Jolo traded with the Chinese, Arabs and other Asians, who also lived there, which led to diverse forms of dress. Silk came from China. Jolo eventually traded with the Europeans.

Tausug women are among the most accomplished weavers in the country and are renowned for their coloured silk tapestry weave headcloths (pis) and men’s waist sashes (kandit). They used imported Chinese silk. In recent decades they tend to use cotton or polyester yarns.

Kandit and pis are woven using a tapestry technique, which was probably introduced as a result of the Chinese textile trade. The patterns are rigidly geometric, perhaps derived from Indian mandalas. The colours are rainbow-hued.

This Tausug tapestry-woven silk waist sash was an essential part of the ceremonial costume of a Tausug man. It was used to hold a dagger.  There are some organic dyes and unmended holes.

There is an example in From the Rainbow’s Varied Hue, Textiles of the Southern Philippines, edited by Roy W. Hamilton, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1998, pages 72 and 73.

Late 19th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

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