Material reference

Red Agate · Nakaugat na Tapang

Scientific identity, documented history, and community contexts are presented with sources. TÁWID’s contemporary design interpretation is identified separately.

Material identity

Agate is banded chalcedony, a fine-grained quartz material. “Red” describes colour rather than a distinct mineral species. The name alone does not establish whether a product’s colour is natural, heated, dyed or otherwise modified. Red agate should also be distinguished from a supplier’s use of “carnelian,” even though these terms concern closely related silica materials. [1]

Documented historical context

Research on agate-carnelian beadworking in Khambhat, Gujarat, connects the material with specialised workshops and long-distance exchange in South Asia. Kenoyer, Vidale and Bhan use observations of craft production to help investigate earlier industries, including the regional Harappan stone-bead tradition around 2500 BCE. The historical subject is a chain of skilled work and commerce, not a uniform meaning attached to the colour red. [3]

Philippine and community context

Museo Kordilyera’s reproduction bonngol ensemble from Kiangan, Ifugao, includes carnelian, agate and dzi beads. It offers a locally grounded point of comparison: bead materials can be studied as parts of a composed adornment rather than isolated colour symbols. The museum record identifies a community and object type, allowing discussion of local use and valuation.

The correspondence is at the level of material family and adornment. It does not identify a contemporary red-agate bracelet as an Ifugao heirloom, establish the quarry of the museum beads, or demonstrate a direct route from Khambhat to Kiangan. Those are separate historical questions that would need object-level study. “Nakaugat na Tapang” is TÁWID’s present-day reflection on responsible courage. [2]

TÁWID’s contemporary interpretation

Nakaugat na Tapang is TÁWID’s contemporary title for courage grounded in responsibility.

References

1. Smithsonian NMNH, “Quartz (var. agate),” NMNH 136330
2. UP Baguio Museo Kordilyera, “Bongol (reproduction),” Kiangan, Ifugao
3. Kenoyer, Vidale and Bhan (1994), “Carnelian Bead Production in Khambhat, India: An Ethnoarchaeological Study”

How to read the material guide · Ask about a bracelet