Pinilian (Sinan-bayabas) (c)
LOCAL NAME:
Pinilian (Sinan-bayabas) (c)
ENGLISH NAME:
Blanket with guava leaves-like design.
DESCRIPTION:
Abra, Tinguian, & Itneg: Pinilian (Sinan-bayabas)
A four-paneled indigo brocade-woven blanket featuring decorative knotted tassels, white motifs of guavas and centipedes.
COMMONLY USED BY/IN:
Abra, Tinguian, Itneg
MATERIAL COMPOSITION:
Cotton threads, Natural dye
ITEM CONSTRUCTION:
Brocade weave, Embroidery, Stitching, Dyeing
DIMENSIONS:
Length
232 cm
Width
139.5 cm
Fringes
10 cm
ACQUISITION YEAR:
2021
RESEARCH DATA:
The pinilian textile from Abra is one of the most notable woven textiles in the Cordillera region. The Itneg mainly use pinilian textiles to make blankets called ules. These blankets are made by stitching together four woven panels with detailed designs. An example of pinilian blanket with botanical and geometric motifs combined is this textile from the collection identified as the sinan-bayabas or binaybayabas (guava) with gayaman (centipede) design. Guava is an American native shrub and was among the trees introduced by the Spaniards to the Philippines in the early 1600s. Based on Cole’s (1922) account, guava grows wild and in great abundance in the mountains of Abra. They added that it is also among the most important trees for the Itneg, as they consume it for food and use it for medicinal purposes. While most blankets in Abra have simple hemlines tightly sewn at the blanket’s warp ends, this particular textile has decorative knotted tassels, locally known as singlut (Cunanan, 2015). Just like the stitchwork on the hemlines, the purpose of singlut is also to secure the textile ends and prevent the warp and weft threads from unraveling.
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