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FAST FACTS
Provincial Origin: Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union
Fiber Composition: Cotton
Method: Weft via Floor Loom
Identifiers: Thick, Geometric
Woven completely in handspun cotton and dyed in organic indigo (Indigoferia tinctoria), these textiles are named after the supplementary weft technique used to produce them: pinilian, "the outcome of choice." The particular composition exhibited is described as kinárkaray, "as though a river," or "river-like" and is an antique pattern.
The Iloko & Philippine Textile Heritage
The weavers of the Ilocano-speaking provinces (Norte and Sur, and La Union) produced at a near-industrial level during the Spanish colonial period, supplying, among other high volume markets, sails for the galleon trade. The range of pattern and color of llocos textiles is a well-known feature of Philippine material culture. And in the shift, centuries ago, to the semi-mechanized floor loom, the Iloko textile culture is entirely unique in the Philippines as harbinger of modernity. The exquisite backstrap loom woven textiles of the province of Abra, wedged into the llocos Region from the Cordilleras, continue to exhibit the aesthetic-technical qualities of what must have been the extreme quality of textiles from the whole of the Ilocos region prior to modernization.
Exhibit Provenance
These blanket panels are examples of the voluminous output created by the weaving center built by the esteemed Corazon Agosto, 84, of Santiago, Ilocos Sur. Ms. Agosto is credited widely as the pivotal weaver in the revival of high quality Iloko weaving of pinilian. They were woven on the Iloko floor loom by Ms. Agosto's grandchild, Logelin Agosto Quional, 41, who lives with her in Santiago, with collective assistance of other relatives: Melita G. Elizaga, 62; Airene G. Elizaga, 37; and Jozel G. Derije, 19.
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