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Lot 663
A group of figures "bulul", "bulol"
Estimated Value:
5.000 € - 8.000 €
Result:
incl. Premium and VAT
Description:
Ifugao; Northern Philippines, Luzon, Lagawe to BanaueH. 29/ 34,5 cm (o.S.)
Wood (narra, Pterocarpus indicus), hair. This rare, aesthetically very appealing pair of figures represents a mythical pair of culture bearers (bulul, bulol), depicted in a squatting posture. One figure is male, the other female. They are crouching on roughly square pedestals with a circumferential indentation. The facial features are stylized; tufts of hair (probably of human origin) are embedded in the top of the head. The hair animates the figures. The surface is intentionally blackened; probably by means of smoke (partially rubbed). Bulul are arranged in pairs in their mythological-iconographic context, but are usually only found individually. They always depict deities. The Ifugao have a huge pantheon of around 1,500 deities, which are divided into 40 classes depending on their competence. Of these deities, only the rice gods (bulul, bulol) are depicted as wooden figures of the same name. They are placed in the rice storehouses, where they are supposed to guard and “animate” the harvested rice and also miraculously multiply it. Every time the storehouse is opened, a symbolic sacrifice is made to the bulol. They were made by specialists. The number of bulol still in existence today numbers in the hundreds at best; old originals (such as this pair) are special treasures today.
Collected from an old German private collection since the 1950s - Signs of age and wear in places, each mounted on a wooden base
The Ifugao, like the other Igorot, belong to the proto-Malay culture of the Philippines. They live in the difficult-to-access Cordillera in northern Luzon. The self-designation “Ifugao” means “people of the earth”. The very conservative culture of the Ifugao was able to develop undisturbed during the (Spanish) colonial period (early 16th century to early 20th century), as the Ifugao were very feared warriors and headhunters and could never be subjugated. The Ifugao are organized hierarchically; the nobles kadangyan are followed stratigraphically by the free numatok; debtors, impoverished people and prisoners of war as the “lower class” are called nawatwat. Only the upper two classes have bulol.
There are two types of bulol: the squatting type, like the present group, has arms folded over the knees. The other type, which is more common in the west of the Ifugao region, has the arms crossed over the chest. The squatting type is found in the area from Lagawe to Banaue. There is also a standing type with arms pointing downwards, e.g. in the Hapao area. In addition to the bulol of the rice storehouses, sculptural works include figures of household gods (kinab-gagat), which are attached to house posts, and guardian figures. Pig sculptures (binababuy) are also known, which probably play a symbolic sacrificial role.
The Ifugao traditionally cultivate the land. Information on the number of Ifugao varies between 80,000 and 190,000. Over a period of 2000 - 2500 years, they created a now internationally famous system of hillside terraces with canals for artificial irrigation on Luzon, which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is used to grow wet rice. More recently, rice cultivation has been supplemented by the cultivation of camote (sweet potatoes), mung beans and cereals.
