ABOUT THE WORK

Cruz recalls that this pair was owned by a family from Lagawe. The style though is closer to the more detailed and defined rendition of the faces of Bul’ul from Central Ifugao. The female of the pair is distinguished by the circular demarcation around the head, a reference to the traditional inverted bowlshaped haircut of the Ifugao man. The male is larger than the female. The significance of this disparity in size is unknown today. But it does exist in some very old pairs, where the male is noticeably larger than the female. Seated males accompanied by standing females are another archaic convention that exists. The encrustation is particularly thick and solid on both these pieces. Cruz, unlike most collectors, was concerned about keeping his pieces in a pristine condition, refusing the tendency (shared by many contemporary Filipino collectors) to dust and clean their pieces. This fastidiousness sometimes results in a serious loss of encrustation or the alteration of surface patina. Cruz’s discipline allows us to see the layers of crust as well as the accumulation of dust that evince the age and ritual use of the pair.