PRE- SPANISH COLONIAL ART IN THE PHILIPPINES

History

The oldest human fossilfound in the Philippines isthe skull cap of a “Stone-age Filipino”, about22,000 years old.

Discovered by Dr. RobertB. Fox, an Americananthropologist of theNational Museum, insideTabon Cave Palawan onMay 28, 1962.

The Negritos

They came during the Paleolithic Age, walking dry- shod through Malay Peninsula, Borneo

The Indonesians

First Sea- Immigrants

They were themaritime Indonesian,who belonged to theMongoloid race withCaucasian affinities

They belonged to theNeolithic Age

The Malays

They belong to the Iron Age Culture

Daring and liberty-loving

Belong to the brown race

Prominent contributions are Ati-atihan Festival, Maragtas Chronicle and the code of Kalantiaw

MusicThe AncientFilipinos hadmusicpracticallyfor alloccasions,for everyphase of life,from birth todeath.

MusicNatives were without a doubt, music- lovers. Each

community had their own sets of musical instruments.In the account of Pigafetta, the official historian ofMagellan Expedition, women from Cebu wereharmoniously playing Cymbals (platiles) Nose flutes, bamboo mouth organ (aphiw) Brass Gong (gansa) Flute (bansic) Long Drum (colibao) Bamboo Harp (subing) Water Whistle (paiyak) Guitar (bugtot) Xylophone (agong) Drum (tugo)

Bamboo Zither

Ethnic Dances andsongs are usuallyaccompanied bychordophonessuch as TANGKOLor Bamboo Zitherof Bukidnon.

Gaddang

Cordillera Percussion

Flat gongs

made of copper-and-iron alloy

Gongs and Drum

The Kulintang or gongs of graduated sizes arranged in a row

Dabakan is a conical drum

Both is from Maranao

ArchitectureThe AncientFilipinos hadfirst dwelt incaves andhas learnedthe art ofarchitectureas they moveand hunt forfood

Lean-to

Early Shelters: Theportable lean-towhich was both roofand wall, suited thelifestyle of thenomadic Negrito.

Tausug House

To the seafaringTausug of Sulu, ahouse built on flat dryland or a site thatslope towards Merccais lucky. The one-room, gabled roofhouse known as baysinug has a separatekitchen accessiblethrough a side porch.

Torogan

This ancestralhouse home ofthe MaranaoSultan or datu hasa soaring, salakot-shaped roof,ornate beams andmassive posts- allproclaimingexalted status

The carved beamis called Panolong

Ifugao House “Bale”

SculptureThe ancientFilipinos hadattained ahigh artisticlevel throughpottery,jewelry andwood-carving.

Bul-ul

Are carved Anitofigures of the Ifugaos

Represents AncestralSpirit and granarygods

Bul-uls are places inrice garanaries as“Guardians of theHarvest”

Sarimanok

Most well-known of the olddesigns

Represents a fowl with wings,feathered tail, and a headdecorated with ornaments ofscrolled and painted motif ofleaves, spirals and feather- likeforms

Usually perched atop abamboo pole, stands amongdecorative flags duringweddings and other festiveoccasions

Hagabi

A wooden chair of the Ifugaos

Made of Narra or Ipil Signifies royalty and

power Only the rich people

can have this chair together with the rituals celebrated after the chair has been made

Pottery Palayok

Manuggul Jar

Banga

Depicts on its lid twoboatmen riding abanca on their wayto the great divide

Used for burial ritesby ancient people inPalawan 890-710 BK

Wood Carving

Ukkil etched oncoral gives a gravedistinctive markerknown as Sunduk

Its Shape indicatesthe sex of thedeceased:hexagonal posts formales and flatcombs for females

Jewelry

Used by the people belonged in upper class orroyal families

Boaya BontocWarrior’s HeadHuntingNecklace

Made of shell,boar tusk,rattan, fiberand bone

Filipino Bawisak Earrings

Traditional IfugaoTribe bead and shellearrings

The bottom shelldesigns have beendescribed as eitherrepresentingbutterflies or acertain item of malegenerative anatomy

Weaving

Weaving means tomake cloth andother objects

Threads or strandsof material arepassed under andover each other

Malong with Okir Designs

The Maranaos calltheir ornamentaldesign Okir, ageneral term forboth the scroll andthe geometricform

Physical Ornaments

Bontoc, Ifugao andKalinga Tribal textileswith a variety ofsilver and brass“Linglingo” FertilityCharms

PaintingsThe AncientFilipinos hadexpressedpaintingsthroughtattoos andcave carvings

Tattoos

The Pintados (paintedones), inhabitants ofthe Visayan islands asdescribed by the firstSpaniards to set eyesupon them

They used sharp metalinstruments previouslyheated over fire

Silup

The tattooing imitatedthe upper garmentworn by the men ofNorth Kalinga

The women of SouthKalinga painted theirfaces bright red

Petroglyphs

The AngonoPetroglyphs is theoldest known workof art in thePhilippines

There are 127 humanand animal figuresengraved on therock wall datingback to 3000 B.C.

Literature The early form of literature during pre- Spanish

period was a classified into written or oral. Written

Biag ni Lam- ang (Ilocano Epic) Indarapatra at Sulayman and Bidasari (Muslim Epics) Handiong (Bicolanos)

Oral Maxims (sabi) Bugtong (riddles) Boat Song (talindaw) Victory Songs (tagumpay) Lullaby (uyayi) Wedding Songs (ihiman) War Song (Kumintang)

Alibata

Ancient Philippine Alphabet