basket and lid

Catalog Number 128530
Literary Reference , 13839
Cultural Affiliation Bukidnon
Continent Asia
Country Philippines
Region Mindanao Island
Island Philippine Islands
Materials rattan
Catalog Description Name: Kayokayan:- Rattan basket, woven in open weave. Used for thread. Round top; hexagonal base. (see note on back of card 128521). The introduction fo foreign cloth into the Bukidnon country has caused most of the people to give up weaving, however, a few women still make their own garments. A small portion of the native fabrics are made of cotton but the greater number are of hemp. This hemp, or abaca, is obtained from the leaf stalks of Muss textilis, a species of wild banana peculiar to the Philippines. When the time for stripping the fiber has arrived the plant is cut off, the elad blades are trimmed from teh stems and the latter are turned over to an operator who is provided with a short bone splitter. The stripper passes his instrument under a strip about 2/3's the width of the stalk and with a quick movement jerks it loose from the cellular matter of the stem through its entire length. The center portion of the stem is thrown to one side as waste. The fiber strips are then cleaned by the hemp machine which is illustrated and described in this case. When the fiber has dried it is tied into long threads and is laid in baskets or wound on spindles until desired for use. All tying, measuring of thread and weaving is done by the women with the primitive instrument.