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Pinilian (Sinan-kabalyo) (a)

LOCAL NAME:

Pinilian (Sinan-kabalyo) (a)

ENGLISH NAME:

Blanket with horse-like motifs.

DESCRIPTION:

Abra, Tinguian, & Itneg: Pinilian (Sinan-kabalyo)
A three-paneled blanket with black and red striped background, yellow joineries and borders, and white horse motifs.

COMMONLY USED BY/IN:

Abra, Tinguian, Itneg

MATERIAL COMPOSITION:

Cotton threads, Natural dye

ITEM CONSTRUCTION:

Brocade weave, Embroidery, Stitching, Dyeing

DIMENSIONS:

Length
175 cm

Width
128 cm

ACQUISITION YEAR:

2021

RESEARCH DATA:

The horse motif is one of the most distinctive elements found on Itneg textiles. Horses are well-integrated into Tinguian culture. In their belief system, horses are known to be associated with their god of agriculture, referred to as Indadaya (Respicio, 2000). Indadaya owns a horse that he uses to travel down from the eastern skies, where he lives, to visit the earth. This textile depicts big and small horses arranged in an alternating pattern. Moreover, kuko-palay (fingernails and rice stalks) joinery, also known as sinan-ramay (finger-like) joinery were used to attach the blanket’s panels. Respicio (2015) identified the same joinery motif as the kawa-kawa (spider-design) joinery (Respicio, 2015), and sinan-akawa in Tinguian. The textile’s borders are also embroidered with yellow threads, resembling the half figure of the kuko (fingernails) motif.

REFERENCES:

Cole, F.C. (1922). The Tinguian: social, religious, and economic life of a Philippine tribe. Publications of the Field Museum of natural history. Anthropological series, 14(2), 231–493.

Respicio, N. (2000). The Dynamics of Textiles Across Cultures in Northern Luzon, Philippines. Unpublished PhD Dissertation. University of the Philippines Diliman.

Respicio, N. A. (2015). Design techniques and weaving centers. In Inabel: Philippine textile from the Ilocos Region, 48-143. Manila: Artpostasia.

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