Boxer Codex: This Is What 16th Century Filipinos Looked

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posted by Margaux, The Visual Traveler May 12, 2018

"The Bisayans are accustomed to paint their bodies with some very elegant
tattoos. They do this with iron or brass rods, the points of which are heated on
fire. These are done in the manner illuminations, paintings all parts of the body,
such as the chest, the stomach, legs, arms, shoulders, hands, and muscles, and
among some, the posteriors."
What is the connection between a British Peer, World War II, a historian, and the

Philippines? A 307-page manuscript which is full of colored drawings, superstitions,

norms, and descriptions of flora and fauna that is known today as the Boxer

Codex.

The twenty-month British occupation of Manila and Cavite from 1762-1764 saw

a massive sacking of academic and historical materials that were brought back to

the United Kingdom by the forces of Brigadier General William Draper. A huge

percentage of that plunder came from the Augustinian library.

In the next century or so, the manuscript would end up in the private collection of

the Earl of Ilchester. Due to the blitz bombing by the Germans of Britain in 1940,

Holland House the main estate of the Earl suffered irreparable damages. He had to

auction off his heirlooms to cover repairs. Professor Charles R. Boxer ended up

buying the book that eventually carried his name.

The Boxer Codex is now with the Lilly Library of the University of Indiana. You may

view a digital copy of it online.

Local Publishing Company, Vibal, has produced an edition of the modern translation

in both English and Spanish by Ma. Luisa Garcia, Carlos Quirino (Philippine National

Artist), and Mauro Garcia. Quirino worked closely with Boxer in the 1950s during

the production of this undertaking.

In her essay about the Boxer Codex, Patricia May Jurilla has entertainingly written

the history of this manuscript. Historians have speculated that the Boxer Codex was

authored by either Luis Perez Dasmarinas, the son of Spanish Governor-General

Gomez Perez Dasmarinas; a Spanish soldier or Juan de Cuellar, the governor's

secretary.

And the owner could have been Gomez Perez Dasmarinas. Only someone who was

rich and influential could have owned this expensive body of work.

The Philippines during the late 16th-century was the farthest colony of Imperial

Spain. The book provided a visual depiction to satisfy the curiosity of the mind. The

exploratory nature of the manuscript illustrated, not just the Philippines but also

China, Japan, the Moluccas, Ladrones, Siam, and Java.

Several of the eyewitness accounts that were included in the manuscript came from

Spanish and Portuguese explorers, priests, merchants and civil servants. The last

entry was dated 1590 and the Boxer Codex could have been printed thereafter.

There are at least 15 pictures of the types of inhabitants that you may encounter in

the Philippines. Even before, the various regional differences of the Filipinos were

apparent.

The Visayans had tattooed bodies or fair-skinned while in Zambales, they were

darker and had a hairstyle that involved shaving the forehead and front half of the

head but retaining loose long hair at the back.

Even the class system practiced by the ethnic groups were portrayed in the Codex.

The social ranking was distinct from one place to another. Clothing (or the lack of

it) discretely distinguished the differences.

Another thing that you would notice while looking at the illustrations is the

abundance of gold jewelry worn by the Filipinos. The Spaniards were obsessed by

gold. In their belief that the islands were full of gold, they willingly exchanged Brazil

for the Philippines in one of their treaties with Portugal.

If you study the path of conquest the Spanish conquistadors made through the

Philippines, they would always push for explorations towards the mountains in

search of gold. This realization came to me while writing my article about

the Franciscan churches in Laguna.

The images are beautifully rendered and framed in a style that is reminiscent of

European art. But historians have concurred that the artist was either a Sangley

(Chinese) or Indio (Filipino).

The following gallery shows what the 16th-century Filipinos looked like in the eyes
of the Europeans.
A pair of gold-embellished Visayan Noble couple. Woven gold adorned them in
sashes with ornate repousse buckles, cord weights.
A Tagalog Noble couple dressed in gold accessories. "The dress of the women is
not as neat nor as elegant as that of the Bisayans, because they wrap a cotton or
taffeta mantle around the body with very little polish. They wear jackets and skirts
in the same way we have described of the Bisayans. They also wear their dress
skin tight, gathering it at the waist and breast because they use no chemise or
stockings...All carry over their dress some small mantles, which reach to the
waist, these are of colored cotton, and some are of satin, taffeta, and damask
obtained from China."
Naturales Tagalos Noble couple. "The women carry much gold jewelry because
they are richer than the Bisayans. Men and women also wear many bracelets
and chains of gold in the arms. They are not used to wearing them on the legs.
Women likewise wear around their necks golden chains like the men do."

A pair of male and female hunters from Zambales. "..if some close relative dies

or is killed, they have to kill other men to avenge the death of their kinsman, and
until mourning is done, they cut off their hair at the back and in front, and they
stop eating rice, and promise not to do other things until they have achieved their
revenge."
Boxer Codex Manuscript – circa 1595
OCTOBER 8, 2012 BY MO1

Boxer Codex
Boxer Codex is a manuscript written circa 1595 which contains illustrations of Filipinos at the time of their
initial contact with the Spanish. Aside from a description of and historical allusions to the Philippines and
various other Far Eastern countries, it also contains seventy-five colored drawings of the inhabitants of
these regions and their distinctive costumes. Fifteen illustrations deal with Filipinos. [1]

It is believed that the original owner of the manuscript was Luis Pérez das Mariñas, son of Governor
General Gómez Pérez das Mariñas, who was killed in 1593 by the Sangleys (Chinese living in the
Philippines). Luis succeeded his father in office as Governor General of the Philippines. Since Spanish
colonial governors were required to supply written reports on the territotries they governed, it is likely that
the manuscript was written under the orders of the governor. [2]

The manuscript’s earliest known owner was Lord Ilchester. The codex was among what remained in his
collection when his estate, Holland House in London, suffered a direct hit during an air raid 1942. The
manuscript was auctioned in 1947 and came into the possession of Prof. Charles R. Boxer, an authority
on the Far East. It is now owned by the Lilly Library at Indiana University. [3]

The Boxer Codex depicts the Tagalogs, Visayans, Zambals, Cagayanons and Negritos of the Philippines
in vivid colors. Except for the Chinese, however, its illustrations of inhabitants of neighboring countries are
odd looking. This suggests that the artist did not actually visit the places mentioned from the text, but
drew from imagination. Boxer notes that the descriptions of these countries are not original. The account
of China, for example, was largely based on the narrative of Fray Martin de Rada. The technique of the
paintings suggests that artist may have been Chinese, as does the use of Chinese paper, ink and
paints. [4]