The Ifugao live in the North of Luzon, the northern main island of the Philippines. Their culture centers around the construction of the ingeniously laid out terraced rice paddies. They carve such ancestor figures, ‘Bulul’, so as to further and secure their rice harvest. Priests ‘charge’ these figures with magical power, ceremonially sacrifice them or place them in the rice silos to protect the harvest.
Carved out of hard narra wood, the present standing male ‘Bulul’, clearly evinces the style of the carver Tagiling and of his workshop. Tagiling is one of the very few Ifugao artists to have become a household name! He lived and worked from around 1870 to 1930 in the village of Kababuyan in the Hegyon Province of North Luzon.
Tageling ‘Bululs’ are distinguished by their special, highly naturalistic style. This is clearly the style in the present ‘Bulul’: it displays a large head, with hair defined to form a cap, protruding pierced earlobes, and a long, pointed face. The eyes are semi-circular and linearly accentuated. The cheekbones and the big sharply ridged nose as well as the part of the chin are prominent. The mouth is small and slightly ‘laughing’. The body is proportionately correct and almost naturalistically presented. With arms detached from the sides of the body, the hands on the hips, clavicle, chest, knees, ankles, toes, a long backline etc. The figure stands on a thick, round oval plinth, which is retracted in the middle and decorated all-round along the upper rim. All carved from a single piece of narra wood. Overall, a stylistically perfect ‘Tagiling Bulul’, with wonderful, old, black, crusty and in part shiny patina resulting from the frequent ritual sacrificial offering, with blood from sacrificial animals (pigs, hens) mixed with rice inter alia. The ‘Bulul’ once wore a loincloth on his hips, something that can seen from a few lighter places on the figure. A minimal loss in the plinth, otherwise no damage. Tagiling Bululs are rare and very much sought after by collectors! Height: 51 cm (with plinth); late 19th century to c. 1930. (ME)

Provenance:
William Beyer Collection, Manila; Rudolf Kratochwill Collection, Graz; Austrian Private Collection.

Lit.:
'Philipines. An Archipelago of Exchange' by Constance de Monbrison & Corazon Alvina, ill. 147; 'The People and Art of the Philippines' by Casal, Casino, Ellis et al., ill. 184.