Stoneware Jars

The #NationalMuseumPH continues to celebrate and join the communities around the world in welcoming the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, known as a day of reunions, gift-giving, and feastings important to the East and Southeast Asians. For this week’s #MuseumfromHome feature, we are highlighting some of our ethnographic stoneware jars as evidence of the vibrant trade relations between the Filipinos and Chinese communities. 

Before the Spanish colonizers arrived in the Philippines in 1521, the Chinese were already actively engaged in trading with early Filipinos especially those who lived near waterways. This is evidenced by a number of artifacts, such as the earliest Chinese ceramic wares dating from around the 9th century, which early Filipinos exchanged for forest and sea products, for aromatics, and traditional medicine. 

Around 70% of ceramic finds in the country are of Chinese origins—mostly from south China kilns believed to produce items for the international market. The quantity of these wares that are widely dispersed in the different provinces, including glazed stoneware jars which have been either retrieved from shipwrecks and archaeological sites or kept as heirlooms, indicate extensive trade and cultural contacts between China and the Philippines possibly from the 10th to 14th century. These were commonly used as storage for both food and liquids, for cooking, as vessels for important ceremonial rituals, and as indicators of wealth. In particular, Chinese jars are considered as among the most valuable properties of the Ifugao, Tagbanua, and Pala’wan, among others.  The knowledge and technology of stoneware production were also transferred by Chinese migrants to local artisans, particularly in the production of burnay in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.

The National Museum of the Philippines is one of the institutions with the largest stoneware collection from different ethnolinguistic groups throughout the country. Through the support of the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, Inc., the Elizabeth Y. Gokongwei Ethnographic Resource Center and Visible Storage at the 5F of the National Museum of Anthropology will soon be open to the public. This additional facility aims to provide an accessible research venue in order to encourage more students, educators and researchers to engage in documenting our ceramic traditions and gain a better understanding of both our unique and shared cultures with our neighboring countries.  

We wish everyone peace, prosperity, and good health throughout this auspicious year! Stay safe and Happy Year of the Water Tiger!

#LunarNewYear2022
#SpringFestival2022
#MuseumFromHome

Text and poster by the NMP Ethnology Division

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