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Tupil (a)

LOCAL NAME:

Tupil (a)

ENGLISH NAME:

Container basket

DESCRIPTION:

A square bamboo container basket with a square lid. It has a rounded body shape and looped bamboo strips are attached on its lid and base (two on each). This particular basket is a miniature version.

COMMONLY USED BY/IN:

Bontoc

MATERIAL COMPOSITION:

Rattan

ITEM CONSTRUCTION:

Basket weaving

DIMENSIONS:

Lid’s Top:
Height: 4.4 cm
Length: 7.5 cm
Width: 7.2 cm

Lid’s bottom:
Diameter: 9.9 cm x 9.5 cm

Body:
Height: 7.5 cm

Base:
Length: 7 cm
Width: 6.9 cm

Rim:
Diameter: 6.1 cm x 8 cm

ACQUISITION YEAR:

2021

DISPLAY STATUS:

BURC

RESEARCH DATA:

Tupil is a container basket common to Bontoc, Mountain Province, used to carry cooked food to the field. Also referred to as the Bontoc ``lunch box” (Hamilton, 1998), during ritual occasions, this basket is also used to transport food to kinsmen who could not attend (Bacdayan, 2023). It has a lid, base, and rim that are square-shaped. Its lid is secured using cords attached to the two sides of the lid and base (Bacdayan, 1998). Because of its relatively small shape, a tupil is used as a lunchbox that could contain foods for an individual that could last for a day (Hamilton, 1998). In Bontoc, Mountain Province, tupil is also used as a ritual basket along with lebkan, a rectangular rice mortar (Museo Kordilyera, 2023).

REFERENCES:

Bacdayan, A. S. (1998). Baskets among the Tanulong and Fidelisan Peoples of Northern Sagada. In Basketry of the Luzon Cordillera. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History.

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