The decorative art of the Mandaya is similar in many respects to that of
the Bagobo and Bila-an, yet in part it differs greatly from both. As is
true with the other tribes, the weavers make use of many figures which
they do not associate with any living forms, but which, nevertheless,
strongly suggest that they may have been derived from realistic designs.
In addition to such patterns they frequently employ figures which are
intentional copies of human or animal forms. Of these the most common
are those representing a man and a crocodile; these sometimes appear
together, sometimes alone. The requirements of the space to be filled,
as well as readiness of the worker to alter any part in order to give a
more pleasing effect to the design have resulted in many distorted and
conventionalized figures which can only be explained by the artist. The
accompanying drawings are taken from articles collected by the writer
and now in the Field Museum of Natural History.
Patterns _A_ to _H_ in Fig. 54 appear in hemp cloth skirts. These show
the steps in the conventionalization of the human figure,[139] as
explained by the weavers. In the first four the forms are so realistic
that they need no explanation, but _E_ is more complicated. Here two
greatly conventionalized figures have been used, one erect, the other
with head down. The size of the head has been increased while the body
is represented by a small diamond-shaped pattern with outstretched arms
attached. The legs and feet of both figures help to form a pattern
similar to a head, except that it lacks the "hair" shown in the end
designs. _F_ resembles the preceding quite closely. In it the central
head-like pattern does not appear and the legs and feet of one figure
help to form the head of the other. This design has been doubled, thus
necessitating some alteration of the figures at the points of union. In
_G_ and _H_ nearly all the realistic elements have vanished, yet certain
resemblance to _D_ and _E_ can be discerned.
[139] One weaver insisted that this figure represents a frog, because of
its webbed feet, but none of the others agreed with her.