A trove of Philippine gold from Butuan province, usually on display at the Ayala Museum in the Philippines, will be exhibited at the Asia Society in New York from this September to January next year. Having seen them before I must say the gold pieces are quite exquisite, but it is a pity there is very little contextual information to them.
![By Jobers Bersales (Inquirer Philippines) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons](https://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Golden_Belt_usually_worn_by_the_Hindu_Brahmi_Caste_found_in_Butuan_Archeological_Digs.jpg)
ABS-CBN News, 15 July 2015
About 120 gold artifacts mostly from the golden age of Butuan, a city in the Southern Philippines, will be on display at the Asia Society Museum in New York beginning September 11.
Ancient Filipinos in Kingdom of Butuan had a sophisticated culture with a fine taste for handcrafted gold items during the 10th and 11th centuries.
“The Filipinos, before they were called Filipino, were making beautiful, artistic, exquisite jewelry from gold. So it’s like King Tut of Egypt being discovered and coming to the Metropolitan Museum. Everybody went to see it. This is our King Tut,” said Community leader and philanthropist Loida Nicolas-Lewis.
Organizers of “Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms” were recently at the Philippine Consulate in New York to promote the exhibit.
“We are aiming for spectacular, not just a special this fall,” Tom Nagorski, executive vice president of Asia Society said.
Full story here.
