Help with identification please
 

This was donated to our museum in 1939 and described as "a Moro knife" with no other provenance.

I have been able to identify other Asian swords in our collection but this one has me stumped. It's the one on the bottom.

Thanks for any assistance. I'm new at this.

Attachment 223716

Hello
I have one like this un muy wall plaque.

The cleaver-like blade is a little like the Lumad light choppers called purok bolos here but the rounded front of the blade and the distinctive badik-like bend in the handle would seem to have a specific function allowing both chopping and pushing. Is the rounded part of the blade sharp?

The top one is a bit unusual too with the Ifugao socket handle with rattan woven rings but a blade profile reminiscent of other Luzon groups.

It looks too big to be a betel nut cutter, but might still be. It looks Moro to me also.

Thank you!
 

I appreciate your input.

Yes, the rounded end of the blade is sharp.

I've tentatively identified the top blade as a bolo, which I realize is a very broad term. As noted, the grip is indeed a socket that would allow attachment of a staff to create a spear or polearm.

What expertise I have is firearms related, which is how I came to my volunteer work at the museum. I am learning a great deal about Asian weapons but remain woefully ignorant and have only scratched the surface.

Again, thank you for your assistance.

Welcome to the forum - keep them coming!


This certainly looks like a tool. Very nice and interesting to see a real example of one of the enigmatic pieces from these wall plagues!

Could you please add dimensions (including weight, blade thickness, etc.) and possibly some close-ups?


Please post detailed pics in a separate thread. It does seem to be a really interesting piece from northern Luzon!

This is a typical hilt style for these blades. It is not supposed to be necessarily used as a spear.

Regards,
Kai

I certainly don't consider myself to have expertise (just enthusiasm) but try to contribute observations to help keep the board lively. It is very exciting to see a new form posted that is one of a number of profiles found on the various "Weapons of Moroland" displays, such as Carlos posted, that we have not yet seen an example of on the forum. Hopefully folks come forward with additional examples to contribute to your post. This is known to happen sometimes years after the original post and is one of the reasons this forum is an amazing resource for simple enthusiasts like me and serious collectors and researchers.

Fun and educational being able to have access to the museum’s storage area. A place where the public have limited contact with.

What museum do you do your volunteer work at? Does it have an electronic catalog of their collection?

If this was indeed a Moro blade, it's probably a "janap", sometimes they also call it "utak" which is a cognate of the Tagalog term "itak". The edge seems to look similar.

P.S. The one at the top with rattan wrapping on handle is definitely an Ifugao blade, which is usually characterized by their socket handles, rattan wrappings and open scabbard. If it's pointy and has single edge, they call it "pinahig". If it's double edged, they usually call it "hinalung". Even then, these are general terms, but commonly used. As far as I know there are even more precise terms like "nauntukan", "pehlet", etc. because both pinahig and hinalung can have variations in blade profile, but my knowledge pales in comparison to those who actually know it.

Btw here's my janap, a recent sample from Sulu:

I'm far from convinced that this blade is closely related at all - the sharpened round tip seems to imply a specialized tool function rather than merely being a generic cutting tool. Also note the differences in the blade base as well as the hilt.

If this really is the modern version of the antique version shown above in this thread, it has seen a complete re-design like with the "modern pira" blades!

Regards,
Kai

Thanks again to everyone for the information.

I think chmorshuutz nailed my artifact.

To answer some questions.

I am fortunate to have volunteered at the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne since 2015 and have worked in collections since 2018, starting with firearms and moving on to edged weapons after completing the inventory update and research on guns. I have 70 years experience with firearms; swords are new to me but I'm learning thanks to the internet and forums like this one. I have over 60 short videos on firearms and some swords on the Museum's YouTube channel. Yes, it has been a wonderful opportunity to have access to items in storage (over 70,000 total artifacts) and to interact with museum professionals.

The Wyoming State Museum does have online access to the collections inventory. Go here:

https://wyomuseum.wyo.gov/index.php/collections

Here is additional information on the knife in question as per request:

The blade is 1/4 inch thick at the hilt and tapers evenly to the tip. It weighs 1 pound 2.5 ounces on a postal scale. The top edge of the blade just ahead of the hilt is marked with XII. The patina on the mark matches the rest of the blade but may have been later added by a previous owner?

The blade is 10 7/8 inches long 3.5 inches at the widest point. Grip is 7 1/4 inches.

I will post more pictures later. Again, thanks to everyone for educating me.

Thanks for the additional data! Looking forward to seeing more pics.


Nah, I beg to differ: If anyone, then Carlos did it!

Some of these wall plagues have names on the pieces. I'd first try to find one which also have this type of blade with a name...


These marks are quite common on blades throughout the region. Extremely likely to be original.

Regards,
Kai

Just noticed that the Moro page on http://old.blades.free.fr/ has a labeled display calling that particular blade a gololo and defines the term as a heavy Moro chopper in the glossary of that site.