Bontoc Pinangpanga or Tribal Pendant

Two little figures stand on the upturned horns, as if someone placed them there to keep watch.

This pinangpanga or tribal pendant is from the Bontoc peoples of Baguio, Philippines, and is contemporary, in coin silver. In the Cordillera of northern Luzon, the pinangpanga shape is generally associated with fertility and ancestors, its outline often read as a stylized figure or a pair of horns. Here a round hole at the top takes a black braided cord, wrapped neatly at the join. Below it a rounded cutout opens into a slit that splits the body into two smooth lobes. Each upper corner rises into a small standing figure. It is 1.25 inches long, 0.25 deep and 1.25 high.

A small piece of silver with a long memory for shapes.