RESEARCH DATA:

The Tinguian or Itneg weavers are innovators in their craft, as reflected in the wide variety of textiles they produce, ranging from plain-woven items to more intricately woven and embellished pieces. This textile from the collection is called the kambaya, a three-paneled skirt dyed in indigo with red/maroon borders, staccato joinery, traditional embroidery motifs, and figurative embroidery. This textile resembles the piningitan, as it also features the binek-beklat (python-like motif) woven along the two warp edges using black/indigo, red, and yellow threads in the pinilian brocade technique (Respicio, 2000). This pattern is also referred to as tinultulbek or "key," signifying the beginning and end points of the weaving process (Respicio, 2000). Another motif on the kambaya textile that is characteristic of the piningitan is the inar-arabas (caterpillar-like motif), created using indigo and red yarns and arranged in a staccato pattern between the white panels of the skirt (Respicio, 2000). Finally, the weft edges, referred to as inurlma, are dyed with natural pigments such as sapang for red, tayum for indigo, and wild ginger for yellow (Respicio, 2000), which is another defining feature of the piningitan.

This particular textile, however, features figurative embroidery motifs depicting humans holding traditional items such as backstrap looms, flutes, spears, and shields. It also includes celestial motifs like stars, as well as zoomorphic motifs depicting a crab, shrimp, fish, frog, deer, and horse. The figurative embroidery across the three panels of the textile reflects the traditional Itneg community. On the bottom panel, the human depictions show individuals engaging in community activities such as dancing and weaving. The middle panel, in contrast, portrays warriors who guard the village and protect the community from threats. While the top panel depicts animal and celestial motifs. The embroidery on the joineries of each panel likely depicts the topography of the village, which is a hilly, mountainous area with a body of water. This textile reflects the ingenuity of Itneg weavers and embroiderers, from the weaving process and indigo dyeing to the intricate embroidery.