In its highly anticipated “The Magnificent September Auction 2024” on Sept. 14, 2024, at 2 pm, Leon Gallery is unveiling a one-of-a-kind hagabi, the Ifugao prestige bench, that has recently been repatriated to the Philippines from Japan, and which has an indisputable provenance from Osmundo “Omeng” Esguerra, the noted antiques dealer who was known as “Manila’s Romancer of Wood.” Esguerra bought it from the leading French collector and dealer of Philippine indigenous art, Thierry David.
The Ifugao hagabi or zoomorphic lounging bench has become one of the most desirable pieces of indigenous art in the Philippine collecting scene, not only for its modern appeal, but also for its rarity and sociocultural importance in Ifugao society.
Roy Franklin Barton described the hagabi in his book, Ifugao Law (1919), as “a lounge cut out of a large tree trunk (which) is the insignia of the upper class Ifugao…” Unlike in regular lounges, the seat of a hagabi should be pointy in the middle, referencing the high-peaked thatched roof of the traditional Ifugao four-stilted house (“bale”). On both ends of the hagabi (“ngiwit”) are abstracted animal heads with long snouts and big ears. While early literature describes the heads as “goat-like” or “guinulgulding,” they could also be pig heads, being the main offertory animals in agricultural rituals, with which the status and wealth of the landowning kadangyans are intimately tied.
The hagabi must also be hewn from a single trunk of the narra to represent wholeness and family solidarity. In other words, the hagabi is really a bicephalous lounging bench shaped like a bale that symbolically signifies the family’s state of bounty.
This hagabi tradition is exclusive and unique to the village of Kiangan in Ifugao, the oldest among the Ifugao settlements. In the Kiangan traditional society, only a kadangyan, or those from the highest and wealthiest class in Ifugao society can commission and own a hagabi. Raymundo Baguilat’s paper entitled The Ifugao Hagabi (1940) explains the process of the making of the hagabi in detail. He contextualized the hagabi by first laying down that the greatest ambition of every Ifugao is to attain the rank of kadangyan by giving a great public feast called uya-uy that begins with 20 consecutive days of dancing, and culminates in three full days of eating and drinking. This requires tremendous resources so that one must be very wealthy to afford the holding of such festivities.
Once one has become a kadangyan, his ascension to the rank is culminated by giving another feast called the hagabi, where the long hardwood lounging bench of the same name is commissioned.
Baguilat noted that even if could can afford to hold the hagabi feast, custom requires that one must also wait for the time of the year known as tialgo, when rice is scarce and many people are hungry. The first step to the ritual is the holding of the ceremony called the mamaldang, where the mumbaki (village priests) are summoned to determine whether or not the gods favor the step, by killing some chickens and studying the gall bladder and the bile. A gall bladder that is small and pale is interpreted as unfavorable, and the hagabi feast is postponed.
But once the go-signal is deemed given by the gods, the next phase begins with the woodcutters and carpenters (munhabat) going deep to the forest to carefully select a big narra or ipil tree to be cut down and fashioned into a hagabi. When the hagabi is finished, many people would join the munhabat in the forest to take turns in carrying it across mountains and rivers. It is a much-anticipated moment of fun, merriment, and even an opportunity for men to showcase their physical strength. Carabao meat, pork, and plenty of rice wine are served at every stop. As wine takes effect and everyone gets intoxicated, the task gets harder and harder as the carriers struggle with the weight of the hagabi.
A ‘kadangyan’ couple photographed with their ‘hagabi,’ together with a Caucasian woman, presumably from or related to the American colonial authorities
When the hagabi arrives in the house of the feast’s host, the people throw each other balls of boiled glutinous rice (dayacot) in celebration. Once the hagabi is installed, three days of eating, drinking, and dancing follow, hosted by the commissioning kadangyan.
Being too big to be taken in, the hagabi is placed under the eaves of the bale, where it remains visible to the entire community. The hagabi is not the just an emblem of wealth and prestige of the kadangyan, but also symbolic of his responsibility to provide when the resources are scarce.
Another ‘kadangyan’ couple photographed with their ‘hagabi’ for scale. ‘Hagabi’ can weigh as heavy as one ton.
Very few families can afford the resources, manpower, and preparation to bring a hagabi to life, so that it became the distinguishing mark of those who were able to. Unfortunately, the tremendous expense in commissioning the hagabi also caused the eventual demise of the tradition. The entry of the Americans in Ifugao in the early 20th century did not only bring Christianity to the unconquered Ifugao lands, but also weakened traditional socio-cultural structures and values, so that the new generation of rich Ifugaos finds little use for the wooden coach, given the expense it requires. Some opted to build a modern concrete house, or acquire a car—the modern hallmarks of what it is to be wealthy. As early as 1940, Raymundo Baguilat already remarked in his paper entitled The Ifugao Hagabi that “much of the color of the hagabi has been lost.”
It is estimated that in the last 150 years, less than 50 families in Kiangan have either performed the hagabi ritual, or descended from ancestors who have once performed the ritual (himmagabi)—a very lean figure compared to the sheer abundance of hagabi in museums all over the world or in private collections, and those peddled in the market; this should keep a potential buyer on his toes.
Another ‘kadangyan’ family photographed with their ‘hagabi,’ placed outdoors, exposing it to the elements
The hagabi also rarely survives. While it may be protected by the eaves of the bale, it is still exposed to the elements, to cycles of solar radiation, rain, and changes in the humidity, which affect its integrity and stability. Termites and vermin can irreversibly damage the hagabi, since they are placed outdoors and in contact with the ground.
Likewise, recount old-time runners and dealers, procuring a hagabi in situ could be a complicated affair, with seller kadangyan seeking full reimbursement or the return of the full cost to commission one, which often would result in unconscionable price tag that outsiders could rarely afford.
Its owner, Hiroshi Ogawa, is a noted Japanese primitive art dealer in Tokyo. He purchased the ‘hagabi’ while he was living in the Philippines 47 years ago
The piece being presented by Leon Gallery was recently discovered in Tokyo, Japan. It measures almost 12 ft in length and 2 ft in width. Its owner, Hiroshi Ogawa, is a noted Japanese primitive art dealer in Tokyo who has been dealing with African Primitive Art for more than 45 years ago. He purchased the hagabi while he was living in the Philippines 47 years ago from the noted Filipino collector-dealer Osmundo “Omeng” Esguerra, who in turn bought it from French dealer Thierry David, another known figure in Philippine indigenous art dealing and collecting.
Based on his recollection, Thierry David is said to have found and acquired the hagabi in Baguio City. While there is no further information about the ownership before David, the name “Kid Dave” is etched on the hagabi, which could refer to the previous owner. This opens the possibility that, like many Ifugao objects, it may have been collected during the American Colonial period, brought to Baguio City, and kept in one of the American colonial houses in the city, until it was discovered and bought by Mr. David.
This archaic specimen undeniably carries the hallmarks expected from an authentic hagabi of great age. Stylistically speaking, the piece has the delicateness, fluidity, and muted elegance of old and authentic Ifugao objects, which can no longer be replicated. This aesthetic has appealed to noted Japanese collectors like Hiro Kobayashi, Hiroshi Ogawa, and many others; many Ifugao materials have ended in Japan. Newer hagabi reproductions are often stylistically flat and too thick, revealing the modern carvers’ instinct to maximize the wood that has become extremely hard to procure in the size that the hagabi requires.
A real hagabi should also not have the same surface as a piece of indoor furniture, since it is kept partly outdoors. This incorrect patina is often observed in reproductions that are often stored indoors and used for years to achieve the sheen and worn surface. While worn surface patina is expected in a real hagabi, in parts sat on or frequently touched, the presence of surface cracking, roughness, and time-induced weathering that exposes the grain separates the authentic old ones from hasty reproductions.
The specimen at Leon Gallery auction has all the expected weathering, given its great age, but it is also in good, stable, and well-preserved condition. The desired balance that is extremely rare to find, and often, much desired.
“The Magnificent September Auction” is on Sept. 14, 2024, 2 pm, at Eurovilla 1, Rufino corner Legaspi Streets, Legazpi Village, Makati City. Preview week is from September 7 to 13, 2024, from 9 am to 7 pm. For further inquiries, email [email protected] or contact +632 8856-27-81. To browse the catalog, visit www.leon-gallery.com.
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A family sits on a ‘hagabi’ during festivities.
