If you happen to visit the exhibit definitely check out these 10 artifacts in particular for their significance in our precolonial history and the exquisite details etched on them that marks the talents of our ancestors who created them.
10.) The belts
Surigao Treasure, Surigao del Sur province
Ca. 10th-13th Century
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas & Ayala Museum
9.) The large (more like massive!) set of barter rings.
Surigao Treasure, Surigao del Sur province
Ca. 10th-13th Century
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
8.) The Royal Sash
Surigao Treasure, Surigao del Sur province
Ca. 10th-13th Century
Ayala Museum
7.) The pair of necklace finials with granulated orant human figures.
Northeastern Mindanao
Ca. 10th-13th Century
Ayala Museum
6.) The 11 Hammered & Detailed Plaques
Northeastern Mindanao
Ca. 10th-13th Century
Ayala Museum
5.) The Garuda Earrings
Eastern Visayas
Ca. 10th-13th Century
Ayala Museum
4.) Strip of Orant Human Figures and Birds
Northeastern Mindanao
Ca. 10th-13th Century
Ayala Museum
3.) The Death Funeray Masks
Death Mask A.
Northeastern Mindanao
Ca. 10th-13th Century
Ayala Museum
Death Mask B.
Butuan, Agusan del Norte province
Ca. 10th-13th Century
Ayala Museum
2.) The Woman Image in the Orant Position
Surigao Treasure, Surigao del Sur province
Ca. 10th-13th Century
Ayala Museum
1.) The Kinnari Libation Vessel
Surigao Treasure, Surigao del Sur province
Ca. 10th-13th Century
Ayala Museum
Bonus! Now this is not a gold artifact however it is something you should definitely not miss and when I saw it I jumped in surprise and started squealing. Yes, squealing, because I wasn’t expecting to see this next very important relic in the museum and was caught by surprise when the real thing was right before my eyes. The only other person besides myself and aunt in the separate room where this object was located was one of the museum guards by the door. He looked at me like I had three heads like why I would I be excited over the object which seems so simple but he doesn’t know why I was excited to see it right in front of me, wishing I could sit down and look through it.What is this object? Well it is the Boxer Codex Manuscript of course!
The importance of the Boxer Codex is very significant in learning about our precolonial history and culture. Not only does the author of the manuscript write about the various peoples of the islands but they also provide visual, colorful, illustrated paintings depicting our ancestors (along with other groups of people from Asia from Japan to Cambodia). This is the only known manuscript to provide a visual illustration of the people the early Spaniards met and gives us a representation of what they wore and how they looked like. So when I saw it as I entered the small little room I just had a little moment of glee. Oh how I wanted to flip through those pages. Another cool feature they had in the room was that you can actually read the English translation of the pages on the Pilipinx ethnic groups covered in the manuscript via an interactive media platform that is directly right across the manuscript. I believe this is the same one used in the Ayala Museum who most probably loaned it with the gold artifacts so if you want to read the passages I highly recommend you do so.
Leave a Reply