The Sto. Niño Gospel and The Sacramentary Book Cover in The Museum of Transfiguration Monastery at Malaybalay Bukidnon

I had to divide this into several post because there are plenty of nice exhibits found at The Museum of Transfiguration Monastery. Two of them would be the Sto. Niño Gospel Book Cover and the Sacramentary Book Cover.

The Sto. Niño Gospel Book Cover. This single item in the collection embodies the weaving and embroidery traditions of the whole Philippines. The base is of abaca woven by the B'laan tribe in Mindanao using guava leaves as dye to achieve a caramel beige color. The image of the Sto. Niño (Holy Child) is embroidered on banana-seda (abaca-silk blend) woven in Kalibo, Aklan. "Needle painting" embroidery of the Sto. Niño was done in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo, also in the Visayas, while the braided border of the medallion and the thread for the sunburst design were made by the Ifugao of Northern Luzon, of hand-rolled fiber from the bark of a tree. The gold embroidery, a craft learned from the Spanish, was done by the "bordadoras" in Manila while the seed pearls used for ornamentation came from Zamboanga.

Sacramentary book cover of hand woven abaca made by the B'laan of Mindanao. The braided border of the medallion and the thread for the sunburst design were made by the Ifugao of Northern Luzon, of hand-rolled fiber from the bark of a tree. The gold embroidery, a craft learned from the Spanish, was done by the "bordadoras" in Manila whilewhile the seed pearls used for ornamentation came from Zamboanga.