Ifugao Hip Bag (Butung or Butong)
Text
Man's bag (with tassels) made of textile (cotton), brass, wire (brass).
BM Curator's original comments: Register says: "cotton bag with brass ring, "Butong" for fastening to the girdle; used by men for tobacco etc.; brass wire is imported. (similar bags in Timor)." From acquisition notes "Igorrot". Register says: "This whole collection from the "Igorrot". N. Luzon."
BM Annotations June 2021 Small Ifugao bags used to hold charms, spoons, betel quids, and other necessities were triangular in shape and closed with brass rings. The circular brass handle was used to attach the bag to the loincloth. The decorations are supplementary to the paired warp and weft yarns of the white base.
Marian Roces Annotations: July 2021 Small Ifugao bags used to hold amulets, carved wooden spoons, betel quids, and other necessities. These were triangular in shape and closed with brass rings. The circular brass handle was used to attach the bag to the loincloth. The patterning was executed as supplementary weft introductions to the paired warp and weft yarns of the white base.
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Metadata
Date
1850s-1910
Identifier
As1914,0414.99
Origin
Production ethnic group Made by: Igorot
BM Annotation June 2021: Ifugao textiles The Ifugao are found in the Cordillera region on Luzon island in the Philippines.
Marian Roces Annotation: July 2021 Ifugao textiles The Ifugao is the collective name of speakers of four related languages: Ifugao Amganad, Ifugao Batad, Ifugao Mayoyao, and Ifugao Tuwali. They live in contiguous mountain geographies in the Central Cordilleras of the northern part of the island of Luzon, the Philippines.
BM Annotation June 2021: Ifugao textiles The Ifugao are found in the Cordillera region on Luzon island in the Philippines.
Marian Roces Annotation: July 2021 Ifugao textiles The Ifugao is the collective name of speakers of four related languages: Ifugao Amganad, Ifugao Batad, Ifugao Mayoyao, and Ifugao Tuwali. They live in contiguous mountain geographies in the Central Cordilleras of the northern part of the island of Luzon, the Philippines.
Materials
cotton
brass
Technique: woven
brass
Technique: woven
Physical Dimensions
Length: 71 centimetres
Width: 25.50 centimetres
Width: 25.50 centimetres
Provenance
Purchased from: Mrs Turnbull
(Sold a collection of Philippine material to the British Museum in 1914.)
(Sold a collection of Philippine material to the British Museum in 1914.)
Acquisition Date
1914
Short description
Reference Notes:
BM Addition: June 2021
Ifugao textiles
The Ifugao are found in the Cordillera region on Luzon island in the Philippines.
Like many Southeast Asian cultures, textiles have been produced by women and have occupied an important role in daily life, economic exchanges, marriage settlements, funerary practices, and other ritual contexts.
European descriptions from the 19th century noted that textiles adorned altars and shrines and provided enclosures for treasured objects. Textiles circulated extensively in the Cordillera as they were made for sale, as well as for personal use with the worth of a cloth based on its rarity and complexity. Weavers have adapted designs, patterns, and colours as they encountered textiles made elsewhere, ensuring that textiles are not a static art form, and today many textiles are also made for tourist consumption.
Men and women once exclusively wore home-produced everyday textiles. For women, this included a skirt cloth held in place by belts and occasionally jackets, while men donned loincloths, jackets, and blankets. Both sexes carried woven bags and pouches. Few wear the full compliment of these clothes on a daily basis now, but many items remain in use for important occasions.
Among the Ifugao, the ikat technique is primarily reserved for funerary textiles. Gamong and inladang blankets function as shrouds, although the latter occasionally are worn in other ceremonies. Bodies are wrapped and buried in as many textiles as the family can afford, and widows also cover themselves with such cloths. The Ifugao once practised secondary burial, and when bones were exhumed, they were wrapped in new funerary cloths and kept in the home until sufficient resources to host an expensive reburial ceremony had been gathered. During burial ceremonies, the textiles are sometimes ritually damaged so that they will not be stolen in the land of the dead.
Marian Roces Annotation: July 2021
Ifugao textiles
The Ifugao is the collective name of speakers of four related languages: Ifugao Amganad, Ifugao Batad, Ifugao Mayoyao, and Ifugao Tuwali. They live in contiguous mountain geographies in the Central Cordilleras of the northern part of the island of Luzon, the Philippines.
As in almost all Southeast Asian cultures, Ifugao textiles are a women’s art; and perform the female aspects of the Austronesian reciprocity and exchange system, as articulated in marriage funerary, and other ritual contexts.
European descriptions from the 19th century observed that textiles were to be seen on shrines and provided enclosures for treasured objects. As well as for personal use, textiles circulated extensively in the Cordillera: these were woven for exchange and the worth of a cloth has been based on rarity and complexity. Ifugao weavers have a particular iconography, however, expressed individually to incorporate ideas and materials from outside Ifugao. They adapted to tourism.
Men and women wove what they wore. Women wore a wrap-around cloth held in place by sashes, and occasionally jackets, while men wore loincloths and jackets. Blankets covered bodies as they went about their daily lives, as needed. All carried woven bags and pouches. Few wear the full complement of these clothes on a daily basis at present, but many items remain in use for important occasions.
Among the Ifugao, the warp ikat cloths are primarily reserved for funerary rites. Gamong and inladang blankets function as shrouds, although the latter occasionally are worn in other ceremonies. Bodies are wrapped and buried in as many textiles as the family can afford, and widows also cover themselves with such cloths. The Ifugao once practised secondary burial, and when bones were exhumed, they were wrapped in new funerary cloths and kept in the home until sufficient resources to host an expensive reburial ceremony had been gathered. During burial ceremonies, the textiles are sometimes ritually damaged so that they will not be stolen in the land of the dead.
BM Addition: June 2021
Ifugao textiles
The Ifugao are found in the Cordillera region on Luzon island in the Philippines.
Like many Southeast Asian cultures, textiles have been produced by women and have occupied an important role in daily life, economic exchanges, marriage settlements, funerary practices, and other ritual contexts.
European descriptions from the 19th century noted that textiles adorned altars and shrines and provided enclosures for treasured objects. Textiles circulated extensively in the Cordillera as they were made for sale, as well as for personal use with the worth of a cloth based on its rarity and complexity. Weavers have adapted designs, patterns, and colours as they encountered textiles made elsewhere, ensuring that textiles are not a static art form, and today many textiles are also made for tourist consumption.
Men and women once exclusively wore home-produced everyday textiles. For women, this included a skirt cloth held in place by belts and occasionally jackets, while men donned loincloths, jackets, and blankets. Both sexes carried woven bags and pouches. Few wear the full compliment of these clothes on a daily basis now, but many items remain in use for important occasions.
Among the Ifugao, the ikat technique is primarily reserved for funerary textiles. Gamong and inladang blankets function as shrouds, although the latter occasionally are worn in other ceremonies. Bodies are wrapped and buried in as many textiles as the family can afford, and widows also cover themselves with such cloths. The Ifugao once practised secondary burial, and when bones were exhumed, they were wrapped in new funerary cloths and kept in the home until sufficient resources to host an expensive reburial ceremony had been gathered. During burial ceremonies, the textiles are sometimes ritually damaged so that they will not be stolen in the land of the dead.
Marian Roces Annotation: July 2021
Ifugao textiles
The Ifugao is the collective name of speakers of four related languages: Ifugao Amganad, Ifugao Batad, Ifugao Mayoyao, and Ifugao Tuwali. They live in contiguous mountain geographies in the Central Cordilleras of the northern part of the island of Luzon, the Philippines.
As in almost all Southeast Asian cultures, Ifugao textiles are a women’s art; and perform the female aspects of the Austronesian reciprocity and exchange system, as articulated in marriage funerary, and other ritual contexts.
European descriptions from the 19th century observed that textiles were to be seen on shrines and provided enclosures for treasured objects. As well as for personal use, textiles circulated extensively in the Cordillera: these were woven for exchange and the worth of a cloth has been based on rarity and complexity. Ifugao weavers have a particular iconography, however, expressed individually to incorporate ideas and materials from outside Ifugao. They adapted to tourism.
Men and women wove what they wore. Women wore a wrap-around cloth held in place by sashes, and occasionally jackets, while men wore loincloths and jackets. Blankets covered bodies as they went about their daily lives, as needed. All carried woven bags and pouches. Few wear the full complement of these clothes on a daily basis at present, but many items remain in use for important occasions.
Among the Ifugao, the warp ikat cloths are primarily reserved for funerary rites. Gamong and inladang blankets function as shrouds, although the latter occasionally are worn in other ceremonies. Bodies are wrapped and buried in as many textiles as the family can afford, and widows also cover themselves with such cloths. The Ifugao once practised secondary burial, and when bones were exhumed, they were wrapped in new funerary cloths and kept in the home until sufficient resources to host an expensive reburial ceremony had been gathered. During burial ceremonies, the textiles are sometimes ritually damaged so that they will not be stolen in the land of the dead.
Display status
Not on display
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“Ifugao Hip Bag (Butung or Butong),” Mapping Philippine Material Culture, accessed October 14, 2024, https://philippinestudies.uk/mapping/items/show/14936.
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