Introduction:

We will be putting up for auction ~60 tribal pieces from the tribal regions in the Philippines, notably from the Mountain Province on Luzon but one or two from Mindanao. See these in Photos 10 to 13. Most of these antique primitive Mt. Province-region tribal pieces are from the so-called Ifugao people, the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera in northern Luzon, Philippines. These people are often referred to as the Cordilleran peoples. 

We lived in the Philippines for a decade beginning in 1985. Several times we visited the rugged Mountain Province in northern Luzon and the magnificent rice terraces there, north of Bagio City. Our interest in the life of these peoples was piqued, and as a consequence we built up a modest collection of "primitive artifacts." This collection is wide, most is Colonial era of the early 20th century, it includes a magnificent plow, hut ladder, spear, drum, many baskets of various types and utilities, wooden bowls and other wooden objects some with animal or human forms, spoons, textiles, beaded bags, rattan woven hats worn by older men, a rice cutting tool, betel box, gong, and Bulul (rice god) figures on several.

We purchased most of these piece from 1986 to 1989. Almost all were purchased from highly reputable dealers, for example, The Tribal Arts House of Henry N. Beyer in Manila, Tawalisi Antiques of Maria Roxas in Manila, Tucucan Antiques in Bagio City, Artifact and Baskets of Mary Ngalawen in Manila, Herencia Arts & Antiques in Manila. We also purchased pieces at small local shops in Bontoc, the principal city in the Mountain Province.

Please read everything, ask questions, and request more pictures. If you are in Japan, China or the Philippines, and want to bid on a piece, please write to me before bidding. The shipping cost does not include for overseas shipping. An adjustment must be made to shipping. Also, I can combine shipping but the rate needs to reflect the larger shipping box and higher weight. We will ensure the piece is packed well.

The auction item:

This medium-sized round "Binali" woven food-rice storage basket is well made (23cm diameter x ~17cm high or  ~9" dia. x 6.7" tall). See Photos 1 to 9 for details on weave and construction. The utilitarian piece shows a Binali weave of natural fiber, rattan (?), also used to create a base frame. Binali weave as seen in Photos 3 to 5 and Photos 8 and 9 means that each weave layer goes in opposite direction. The piece has what appears to be repairs as seen in the Photos 8 and 9. This basket was used, yet well cared for. The lines and form are nearly perfect, great textured weave, tight fitting lid. The color is a dark brown, almost black, stemming from fires in huts used for heating and cooking. The woven natural fiber is exceptionally well done, terrific craftsmanship.This basket features very good patina. Notice in Photos 1, 2, and 3 what appears to be a caked on material that essentially closes or fills in the weave. Also, the sides of the basket have in places a light tack. This is from beeswax that was used to seal the basket from the encroachment of insects, possibly applied several times during its long use. This piece is very old. Likely late 19th century to early 20th century. This size of these type of baskets was designed to hold a certain amount of rice. While my details might be off, I was told it was approximately one "ganta" in volume. In the Philippines during the late 19ᵗʰ - early 20ᵗʰ centuries, a ganta is a unit of capacity, that is 8 chupas or 3 liters¹ (3.17 U.S. liquid quarts or 2.72 U.S. dry quarts).

Basketweaving was done primarily by men, and one of the most important products from the Mountain Province. Generally baskets aesthetic depends solely on form, material and weave. The differences in weaving technique is always amazing. At it's best these utilitarian baskets are superbly executed and rank among the finest works produced by these Mountain 'artists'. This basket is likely 70 to 80 years old. We've owned it since the mid-1980s, ~40 years. We purchased this piece in Bontoc. The piece has received very little handling by us, just displayed in our home.

BTW, no pets, no smoking.

Our story:

We lived in the Philippines for nearly a decade beginning in 1985. From 1986 to 1989, we collected a number of old tribal artifacts. Our pieces were represented as being from the late 19th century to pre-WWII.  We are now selling these pieces as we downsize. We are not experts, we cannot authenticate our pieces. These pieces, the vast majority at least, look quite old. We genuinely believe these are vintage genuine pieces, each with their own charm. Just holding an item that may be 120 to 70 years old from the Mountain Provence of the Philippines makes for great conversation. 

Two sources we've relied on are, "The People and Art of the Philippines", by Father Gabriel Casal, Regalado Trota Jose, Jr. and others, 1981, Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles. The second was published in July-August 1983, in Arts of Asia, "Northern Philippines Primitive Wooden Art," by Pynky Gomez Garcia, pages 84-93. 


Thank you for looking.