September, 1913- Wild Tribes of Davao District — Cole. 121 



DECORATIVE ART. 



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 



