To a stranger entering a Bagobo house, in the absence of its owners, it
appears that the people have little artistic development. He sees no
paintings, no drawings, and few, if any, attempts to beautify the house
with carvings. The pots sitting by the fire, show no decoration nor do
the other household utensils exhibit embellishment of any kind. A closer
study of the field baskets, however, shows a slight attempt to produce
ornamentation by changing the weave of the central band from that at the
top and bottom, or by adding a few rude lines in pitch. The moment the
people enter, however, all is changed. The clothing they wear is covered
with intricate patterns, some realistic, others highly conventionalized
(Plate XXXI). Wonderful designs in beads or shell disks appear on coats,
jackets, and carrying bags, while at neck, waist, shoulder, and at the
bottom of sleeves and trousers are other figures in fine embroidery or
applique. Strands of beads and seeds exhibiting a great variety of
designs surround the necks of both men and women, while rings, armlets,
leglets, and anklets of beads, plaited material or metal, are common.
Combs are covered with pitch and inlaid with beads, or patterns are
incised in the wood and filled with lime. Ear plugs exhibit beautiful
delicate patterns inlaid with brass or silver.
A glance at the weapons carried by the man shows that his knife has been
ornamented with caps of brass (Plate XXXII), the metal guard has cut or
cast patterns in its surface, while sheath and carrying belt are covered
with thin brass plates, painted lines, or a beaded cloth (Plate XXXIII)
with bells attached. Fronts and backs of shields are covered with
incised designs, while the metal ferrule next to the spear head seldom
lacks in conventionalized figures. So the list might be extended to
cover the women's knives and their pocket and carrying baskets, as well
as the betel boxes and lime holders used by both sexes. In short, there
seems to be no end to the list of personal ornaments and equipment which
may be improved by carvings, arrangements of beads or metal castings and
inlays. Even the horses are decorated with artificial forelocks of hair
and beads. Strings of bells surround their necks, while saddles and
whips display the aesthetic taste of their owners.
A part of this decoration is apparently realistic and will readily be
identified by any member of the tribe; another part is suggestive and
with a widely known meaning, but by far the greater number of designs
have no generally accepted signification. The writer spent many hours
securing the names of the designs on textiles, ornaments, or on lime
boxes, only to receive the reply "done to make pretty," or to find that
no two of five or a dozen informants could agree on many patterns, while
frequently it was found that some obliging individual had volunteered
names at one time which he could not remember on the day following. It
is possible that a long residence with the people and diligent inquiry
along this line might yield more definite results, but for the present
the writer must content himself by showing some typical examples of the
decorative art, and adding a few notes to the same.
The great majority of baskets lack in decoration, other than that which
can be obtained by a slight change in the weave. In these a central band
can be distinguished from those at top and bottom, although the same
material is used and there is only a minor variation in the technique.
Small carrying receptacles, or trinket baskets, frequently have designs
produced by plaiting the rattan or bamboo of natural color with that
which has been blackened (Plate XXXIVa). No uniform meaning or pattern
name seems to be attached to the designs shown in this specimen, but an
incised design on the wooden rim was readily identified as a crocodile.
The small baskets in the coiled weave sometimes have the fronts entirely
covered with beads which are woven into the basket in parallel lines.
The tobacco box shown in Plate XXXV has been covered with cloth and
pitch, in which an artistic design made from the yellow cuticle of an
orchid has been inlaid. Plate XXXVb shows the wooden tops of three
tobacco boxes. Nos. 1 and 2 are carved and inlaid with beads and buttons
in designs which "look pretty," but number 3 depicts a hunting scene in
which two men and a dog are hunting the alligator. Several beads are
missing so that it requires quite a stretch of the imagination to secure
the impression the native artist meant to impart.
The prized trinket baskets of the women generally have the fronts
covered with cloth, to which hundreds of colored beads are sewed, in
elaborate designs (Plate XXXVI).
The patterns brought out in the weaving are as beautiful and intricate
as they are confusing. Five typical specimens of cloth used in women's
skirts are shown in Plate XXXVII. In them can be found several
apparently different designs to some of which names were assigned, but
as there was no agreement among my informers I refrain from giving them
here. The pattern marked X in (c) was generally identified as
"alligator," yet the weavers were by no means agreed.
The strip of cloth (Plate XXXVIII) was intended for the center breadth
in a woman's skirt and shows the typical designs employed in the best
garments.
The extensive use of beads is shown in Plates XXXIX-XL. Carrying bags,
clothing, combs, necklaces, armlets, belts and sheath covers are
partially covered with or made up of colored beads, always in designs,
yet very few of these patterns have generally accepted meanings or
names. The same holds true of the designs in shell disks, which, on the
finer garments, take the place of beads. A few exceptions to this are
found in which realistic patterns appear in (Plate XXXIb and Fig. 34).