PERSONAL ADORNMENT“Beautifying oneself is a universal

preoccupation.”

• Objects worn on the human body which may either be natural or handcrafted as jewelry

• Commonly known as alhajas/alahas

• Functions of Personal Ornaments

-To enhance a part of the wearer’s body-To signify prestige, rank, status, and wealth-To symbolize ritualistic and emotional states such as happiness, mourning, triumph, celebration, and solemnity

• General Properties of Philippine Personal Ornaments

-Dominant in symmetry and natural proportion-A strong sense of rhythm-Distinctive rather than specific emphasis-Sizes: either minute or oversized-Predominant in primary colors -Combination of basic forms: square, triangle, ellipse, and circle

• Manobo personal ornaments: Observing basic circular shapes, and symmetry

• Neckwear: Beads observing the property of using the primary colors

• Bontoc Silver "Linglingo" Fertility Charm (A Stylized Representation Of The Female Clitoris) – showing symmetry and natural proportion

• Oldest jewelry of the Philippines to date was found in Duyong Cave, Palawan (C-14 dated 2680 BC)

• The earliest jewelry are believed to have functioned as amulets and charms against evil spirits

• Early jewelry were mostly made of shells, metal, jade, and gold.

• Examples of Early Personal Ornaments

• The Isneg menghal or warrior wore elaborate necklaces of capiz-shell discs to sign headhunting feasts.

• The Ifugao and Bontoc wore boar-tusk necklaces and armlets on the biceps on every successful war expedition.

• T’ Boli women wore brilliant inch-thick chokers with geometric

designs, convince that these pleased the gods.

• Mansaka had prized necklaces, called balliug, string of beads dangling to the waist sometimes containing animal teeth.

• Among the Aeta, leglets were worn so that the wearer could have a wild-boar’s strength, stamina, and speed.

• The Bagobo and T’ Boli groups also attached bells all over their body.

• Four basic types of earrings

o Plugo Chandeliero Graduated-ring serieso Ear-with-bib combination

• Ancient Stone Ornaments -Developed in Philippine prehistory during the Neolithic Age, the same period when polished stone tools were also used in agriculture-Such as beads, bracelets, and ear and neck pendants-“True jade” or nephrite was the material of which the working tools of prehistoric Filipinos were made.

Most beads recovered from archaeological sites were glass beads.

Pang-aw o Rarest and most highly-priced

heirloom bead among Bontoc and Ifugao

o Cylindrical bead with gold leaf embedded between layers of clear glass

Batek o common in Bontoc provinceo small, round, or cylindrical

monochrome glass beads

Lang-at (red) Impokon (white) Fa-king-i (yellow) Gusao (black)

Abaloryo o fine glass beadso for embellishing garments

and objectso body ornamentso rosaries for the masses

Gintong pula –o ancient Philippine goldo comb, hairpins, earrings,

etc.

Dilaw (yellow) - silver + copper

Mapula (pink) - copper

Berde (green) - silver

Filipinos are skilled goldsmiths. Vigan & Bantay, Ilocos Sur were

the centers of gold jewelry in Luzon

Ilocos became known for the high-quality and intricate technique of its products.

Pantoche or Tusok - hairpins Alakdan - scorpion necklace Alaphor - double-linked flat

necklaceo symbolic of the pride and

power of the elite Krus na baligtad

o earliest design of the cross ornament

o functionally inverted so it would be right-side up when the wearer is praying

Other places in the Philippines came to be associated with jewelry-crafting and goldsmithing:

o Santa Cruz, Manila (mid-18th century)

o Platerias St., Quiapo area (mid-19th century)

o plateros - jewellers

o Lipa, Batangas (19th century)

o peinetas, gold chains, diamond rings, etc.

American colonization brought a change of style in jewelry.

Present jewelry-smithing centers:

o Baguio City o Meycauayan, Bulacan o Manilao Makati

Tattoo Art

From the Maori “ta”, to sear, and the Tahitian “tatu” pricking

Is a decoration inscribed permanently on skin with a sharp instrument

Uses plant dyes or inks

Functions: o Serve as a type of clothingo Enhance physical beautyo Create a ferocious

appearance to drive away enemies and evil spirits

o To distinguish a brave warrior

o Convey certain social attributes and values

o Serve as a sign of sexual maturity and prowess

o Record the designs of tribal hosts in the travels of early mariners

How is it made? o Cut designs into the skin with

small chisellike bladeso Pigment is rubbed into the

grooves*The pigment is from the dung of dogs fed with fat meat until the oversecretion of bile, which colored their dung black

Cordillera-Tattoo is considered a physical ordeal that accompanies rites of passage-Done with instruments of 4-10 steel needles held together at one end by a wooden handle-Design is drawn with a soot, pattern pricked onto skin, soot pressed onto open wound

Ifugao -Common tattoo motifs are the dog, tinagu (man) and ginawang and ginayaman (centipedes).

Kalinga, Kankanay, and Ifugao -Women: thickly decorated with tattoo along the vertical and horizontal sections from the shoulders to the wrist-Men: Consists of a series of geometric designs on the chest extending to the upper arms-chest tattoo: indicates valor of the wearer-During headhunting times: signifies he had taken a human head

Visayans -The people once called “Pintados”-Traditional tattooing is now all but dead, practiced only by small reclusive mountain groups-Traditional tattoos have been replaced by anting-anting (amulet) tattoos with motifs derived from Christianity

Tboli -Hakang or tattooing-Tattoos:

o Repertoire of stylized animal or human motifs

o Zigzag patternso Men: tattooed on the

chest and forearm

o Women: on the calves and forearms

Scarification -Sometimes practiced by Aeta groups-Live coals are applied onto skin to create raised patterns of scars-A proof of physical endurance for men and young boys

Tattoo during the Spanish colonization -Persisted on a limited scale-Indicated brotherhood among the revolutionary movements-Like the Pulahanes of Samar and Leyte

Tattoos were believed to endow the wearer with:-Invincibility-Invisibility, against bullets and weapons-Immunity from illness

Revolutionary tattoos -Featured orasyon (prayer) with esoteric symbols-Refers to incomprehensible words in pig Latin believed to possess magic powers, when tattooed on the body

-Such prayers are either kept in a small book called librito, written on a paper then placed in a container and worn as a pendant, or tattooed on the body

Traditional tattoos

Kinds:o Panlalaki- worn exclusively

by men because they transmit manly powers

o Pangontra- provide protection against evil spirits

Examples based on occupation:

-Farmers: safeguard against the evil spirits of the fields and wild animals-Tuba gatherers: for invulnerability against bladed weapons

Icon tattoos -Solo mata

o an open eye enclosed in an equilateral triangle

o Symbol of Christian Trinity -Images of Mary, Christ, Sacred Heart-Geometric figures such as circles, square, triangle, pentagon-Cross

Tattoo as a prisoner art form -Can be a sign of membership-A way of remembering loved ones-A sign of machismo-Tattoo figures:

o The “Don Juan” or ”Love” tattoos

o Names of loved oneso Animals like the snake and

eagle

Teeth Ornamentation

Kinds of Ornamentation

o Gold Ornamentation

Bolinao people believed that having gold in your teeth represents that you are passing the puberty stage. They use it as an adornment by inserting gold plugs or disks into the labial surfaces of the teeth.

o Tooth Grinding

Some Filipino clean their teeth with fine quartz sand to a point shape.

o Teeth Dying

Some use lime (apag) or they chew betel to to make their teeth black.

Head Ornaments

Maranaoo Maranao brass comb with

floral patterns in silver inlay

o These patterns are locally called “okir”

o At the top are white horse hair and hanging from each side of the comb are tiny white glass beads

o Marano brass comb variation: with multi-colored glass beads

Gaddango A Gaddang man’s mall

wooden hat called “soklong”

It is carved from a solid block of narra hardwood

Attached to the sides are two butterfly shaped mother-of-pearl shells

Its top and shells are then decorated with multi-colored tiny glass beads

o A Gaddang woman’s beaded comb locally called “laggud”

o A Gaddang woman’s forehead bead ensemble locally called “galantia”

The centerpiece of which is a 12-string collection of tubular and round

old agate, glass and ceramic multi-colored beads

Bontoco A Bontoc man’s basket hat

called “saklong”o It is made of woven rattan,

decorated with the black feathers of a wild rooster and two wild boar’s tusks

T’bolio T’boli wooden comb made

with muli-colored beads Ilonggot

o Ilonggot head hunting headdress

It is made out of the head of a hornbill (a type of bird)

It symbolizes the success of its owner in his head hunting

Agta o Agta decorative comb

Incised, feather-crested combs that distinguished

hunters of high repute

Ifugaoo Ifugao headdress with Bul-

ul Worn by Village

Chief during planting and harvest rituals for a good harvest. Bul-ul is the rice god of Ifugao.

o Ulo Di Kang-o This Ifugao

headdress worn by a groom during a wedding. This is made with a piece of blue cloth wrapped in a hornbill.