I saw the artistry of the early Filipinos reflected in those fine lines and intricate designs. Seeing the real thing for the first time and knowing it was a burial jar aroused in me a fascination tempered with the creeps. My familiarity with the Manunggul Jar in 1995 was because of the picture of it printed on the then new one thousand-peso bill. Similarities in the execution of the ears, eyes, nose, and mouth of the figures may be seen today in the woodcarving of Taiwan, the Philippines, and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. “The carved prow and eye motif of the spirit boat is still found on the traditional watercraft of the Sulu Archipelago, Borneo and Malaysia. The manner in which the hands of the front figure are folded across the chest is also a widespread practice in the Islands when arranging the corpse. Both figures appear to be wearing a band tied over the crown of the head and under the jaw a pattern still encountered in burial practices among the indigenous peoples in Southern Philippines. The boatman is steering rather than padding the “ship.” The mast of the boat was not recovered. This vessel provides a clear example of a cultural link between the archaeological past and the ethnographic present. “The burial jar with a cover featuring a ship-of-the-dead is perhaps unrivalled in Southeast Asia the work of an artist and master potter. Dating back to the late Neolithic Period at around 710 B.C., Robert Fox described the jar in his landmark work on the TabonCaves: The Manunggul burial jar is unique in all respects.
The Manunggul Jar was one of the numerous jars found in a cave believed to be a burial site (Manunggul, part of the archaeologically significant Tabon Cave Complex in Lipuun Point, Quezon, Palawan) in March 1964 by Victor Decalan, Hans Kasten and several volunteer workers from the United States Peace Corps. But another less-popular but very significant piece would be that jar-the Manunggul Jar.
Many people come to the museum just for this painting. Today, if the Metropolitan Museum’s identifying piece is the painting Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas Al Populacho by Hidalgo and the GSIS Museum its Parisian Life by the painter Juan Luna, the National Museum’s is of course El Spoliarium, Luna’s most famous piece. That was my first visit to the National Museum, the repository of our cultural, natural and historical heritage. I was eleven years old then yet I remember the majesty of climbing those steps and walking past the Neo-classical Roman columns until I was inside the Old Congress Building. “…the work of an artist and master potter.”Ģ7 th April 1995-I was walking towards a very familiar building with my Auntie Edna. Xiao Chua marvels at the Manunggul Jar, National Art Gallery temporary exhibit, 23 September 2010. Mas naging stable ang mga bangka natin kaya ang lahing Austronesyano ay kumalat sa buong Timog Silangang Asya, mga isla sa Pasipiko, New Zealand, Hawaii hanggang singlayo ng Madagascar sa Africa at Easter Island sa Timog America. Ayon kay Peter Bellwood, sa Pilipinas nagsimulang maging sopistikado ang kultura sa paglalayag nang maimbento ng ating mga ninuno ang outrigger canoe o bangkang may katig. Noong panahon na iyon, ang katubigan ang nagtakda na kahit hiwa-hiwalay ang pulitika ng mga bayan-bayan, may makikitang patterns sa ating kultura at wika na magkakapareho.
Mas madaling maglakbay sa tubig kaysa sa isang malaking masa ng lupa na nahahati sa mga bundok. Kaya naman hindi totoo ang una nang sinabi sa atin na kaya tayo nagkawatak-watak bilang isang mamamayan at bilang isang bansa ay dahil tayo ay isang archipelago. Noong panahon ng ating mga ninuno, ang network ng pakikipagkalakalan, diplomasiya at pakikipag-ugnayan ay ang katubigan-ang mga ilog at ang mga dagat. Sa ngayon, kung nais niyong makipagkalakalan, manligaw, at kumuha ng impormasyon, ang daluyan o network ninyo para dito ay ang cyberspace-sa twitter, facebook o ebay.