EARTHENWARE PEDESTALLED BOWLS
As we anticipate the coming holiday season, our #TrowelTuesday for December will feature artifacts related to this festive occasion. For this week, we highlight the earthenware pedestalled bowls recovered from various archaeological sites in the country.
Do you ever wonder how precolonial Filipinos served their dishes in the past during festive events?
The pedestalled bowl is one of the distinct pottery forms found in many archaeological sites in the Philippines. Also known as footed or presentation dish, this pottery vessel is characterized by its shallow bowl form and high ring foot attached to its base. Pedestalled vessels were part of the earliest ceramic assemblage in the Philippines that initially appeared in the Batanes Islands, dating around 2000 Before Common Era (BCE). From around 500 BCE to 500 Common Era (CE), pedestalled bowls were quite widespread and mostly found in funerary contexts. They came in different sizes and styles, particularly the decorations on the high ring foot. The most common is the triangular cut-outs featured in the pottery recovered in Batangas, northern Palawan, Gigantes Islands, and Maitum in Sarangani.
What do you think is the function of these pedestalled bowls?
Inferring from the ethnographic accounts in the Philippines and neighboring Southeast Asian regions, it seems that such vessels have a ceremonial and prestigious role. Based on the early 20th century accounts of American anthropologist Fay-Cooper Cole, among the Tinguian, a wooden pedestalled dish called dias was a necessary object for the marriage ritual as a container for the cooked rice. For the Maranao and Maguindanao of the southern Philippines, brass pedestalled trays known as tabak are also similar to the pottery vessel in terms of form. These objects are used as serving platters for food on very special occasions. High-footed trays or dishes known as dulang are also found in Bali, Indonesia, which are used on ceremonial occasions to carry offerings.
Were these earthenware pedestalled bowls used to contain ceremonial foodstuffs in the past?
Laura Junker’s archaeological research revealed that feasting is a part of the ceremonial life in early Philippine societies which displays ritual and social prestige. Aside from the dishes served for the community, feast-related objects such as ceramic vessels were included in this lavish presentation. Pedestalled bowls may have played a role in the precolonial ritual feasting, both as an offering to the spirits and as a display of prestige. Although we can only infer from the archaeological studies, our practice of displaying food during special events such as Christmas has roots in our past. It may also reveal another aspect of Filipino culture, which is the tradition of sharing during the festive season.
The earthenware pedestalled bowl, along with other artifacts, can be viewed in the Palayok: The Ceramic Heritage of the Philippines gallery of the National Museum of Anthropology. Book your visit or explore our collections and exhibitions online through this website.
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Text and poster by Timothy James Vitales | NMP Archaeology Division
© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)
