Bulul Female Figure (rice deity)
Date19th century
Label TextOriginally, this couple stood looking out over a landscape filled with rice terraces. Their presence helped rice grains multiply and grow. In return, priests would activate the bulul with prayers and a taste of the harvest feasts. Rice, considered the most sacred of foods, was stored in closely guarded granaries. With such ceremonial cycles and ecologically sound management of water and land, the Ifugao have prevailed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years in northern Luzon.
Object number2005.182
ProvenanceJonathan Bassan, 1977-1983 until late 1980s-early 1990s; [Thomas Murray, Mill Valley, California]; sold to Georgia Schwartz Sales, San Francisco, California, ca. late 1980s-early 1990s; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2005
Exhibition HistoryPalo Alto, California, Philippine Hill Tribe Art, 1998.
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.Credit LineGift of Georgia Schwartz Sales
Dimensions15 3/4 x 5 x 4 1/2 in. (40 x 12.7 x 11.4cm)
MediumWood, beads, hair, natural deposits
Object number: 99.70
Object number: 2003.106
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