Object Name: Carving Tools

Provenance: Banaue, Ifugao

Description:
From top to bottom

1. Pat-u
Banaue, Ifugao
Wood
L 30. 7 cm
MK Collection

Like most carvers, the Ifugao use a mallet, called pat-u to strike the chisel when carving.

2. Uchip
Banue, Ifugao
Iron, wood
L 22.6 cm
MK Collection

Aside from chisels, knives (uchip) are also used by woodcarvers to smoothen the edges of wood carvings.

3. Lukong
Banaue, Ifugao
Iron, wood
L 22.5 cm
MK Collection

The lukong is a chisel with a crescent-like blade. It comes in six different sizes and is used to produce rounded edges in wood carvings (Ubaldo 2016 119). Woodcarvings.

4. Chipya
Banaue, Ifugao
Iron, wood
L 26 cm
MK Collection

The rounded edge of the chipya differentiates it from the other chisels used by the Ifugao. The chipya comes in six different sizes (Ubaldo 2016, 116), all of which are used to carve concave items such as bowls.

5. Simpa
Kiangan, Ifugao
Iron, wood
L 16.5 cm
MK Collection

The simpa is a flat-bladed chisel used by the Ifugao in woodcarving. This simpa would have been one of four chisels that formed the set of tools that an apprentice would use to learn the trade of woodcarving (Ubaldo 2016, 123).

6. Lukong
Banaue, Ifugao
Iron, wood
L 22.5 cm
MK Collection

7. Pat-u
Banaue, Ifugao
Wood
L 12 cm
MK Collection

8. Korikor
Banaue, Ifugao
Iron, wood
L 16.5 cm
MK Collection

The korikor features a thin pointed edge, like an ice pick. It is used to reach the narrow points of the wood being carved. It is also used in basket weaving where it serves as a pick for inserting strips of rattan into the core of the basket.