Bag Lady Kampilan
 

ever seen them bag ladies pushing their carts with their worldly belonging in it? not making fun of them by any means, but that image is the first thing that crossed my mind when i came across this kampilan.
this particular piece carried more historical artifacts with it than any other pieces i've ever owned. what's amazing is the majority stayed with it.
first of, it came with that rare scabbard, and i believe this one is original to it. the scabbard was even carved and painted. it has ukkil carvings on both sides, and get this; i'm pretty sure it's Sulu as compared to my photo collection of barung sampirs, and pictures from Ligaya Amilbangsa's book, Ukkil. looking at the pattern of the ukkil as well, you will notice that the top part is carved, middle part untouched, and carved again at the tip, similar theme to a barung's scabbard.
one of the first things that caught my eyes is the hair. we normally see the hair attached on the ridge of the handle. in this instance, the hair was sewed on a piece of cloth and tacked on the front of the handle, giving it a beard as oppose to the mohawk that we normally see. so this made me think what's the significance of those hair on the kampilan? why do some kampys have hair, and some are bald? why the need to add hair on this particular piece. i don't think it's just for decoration, there's gotta be a meaning behind it.

and then there's the munsala cloth. this one was decorated with spanish military buttons on the tip. i'm thinking just a little humor from the original owner: one button is from an infantry uniform, and the other one is from an artillery uniform. nice touch!
there's also a tiger bell. i've always wanted a kampilan with the original tiger bell, not a later add-on. i would say this was main reason why i got it in the first place. it's attached to a small knuckle guard with a leather strip.
i have to give the original owner props on the originality when it comes to decorating the "eye" part of the handle. the obverse has a British token or coin, and the reverse has what appears to be a French medallion (?) or insignia

...while he's at it, he decided to add his coin collection. where the hair would normally go, this is where he displayed his collection. he also used a coin to decorate the corners of the cloth that hold the hair. sadly, one is missing. there are various coins from Asia and Europe. i would like the forum's members help in identifying these coins. thanks in advance. there's also a seven pointed star on the opposite side of the handle. oh, and a Naval button..

finally, there's this medallion. this is the proverbial monkey wrench in this whole thing. looking at it, it blends with the rest, just another trinket, is all. closer look, it's a Catholic medallion. okay, so the dude converted. or he's not religious and any help from any religion will do. just playing it safe. maybe. that's mystery number 1. what is a catholic medallion doing on a Moro sword? mystery number 2. it's made out of aluminum. with that in mind, it's easy to assume that this was added later, or this whole ensemble is a later piece. if it's a later piece, it's too ordinary looking for a kampy to be jazzed up for tourist consumption. the kampy looks more like a personal sidearm. it's too personalized. possibility number 2 is the medallion is old. i realized aluminum was very expensive around the turn of the 20th century, so it wasn't just something you can acquire just like that. but still, there's that possibility. as far as the medallion, the front says "St Alphonsus Maria of Ligouri, Pray For Us" and it has an image of him. the back says "Our Lady Of Perpetual Help, Pray For Us" with the image of Madonna and Child.
of note on the way the word "St" or "Saint" was stamped on the front: the letter "t" next to the letter "S" was half the size, common practice when they abbreviate words during that era.

ok, i'm done rambling. i just now realized being imprisoned in my house for weeks will do this to me. thanks for looking. i figure this would make a good discussion post while we're pretty much homebound.

Nice!
 

Now THAT’s a cool piece. Wow. Thanks for sharing.

I feel like the scabbard is extra special as well.

Bravo to the maker(s) and owner(s).

I'll take the easy one to identify :D. The large coin with smaller (gold?) coin on top of it, and inscribed INDO-CHINE FRANCAISE 1897. This is a Colonial French bronze coin worth 1 centime (1896-1939). See here.

haha, thanks Ian! now i have to research where Indo-China was. would that be the modern day Vietnam?

The coin to the right of the French Indo-China coin is Spanish from the period of Ferdinand VII (reigned 1808-1833). The inscription reads: Ferd.VII D.G.Hisp. Et ind.R. It could be an Octavo (18 mm diameter) or Quarto(22 mm diameter). Both were made from copper. [Reference: http://papercoinage.weebly.com/spain...nes-coins.html]

Roughly what is now Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia.

The coin to the left is intriguing and I'm working on it. The one to the left of it is also interesting. There is no clear inscription, but the crowned royal shield with two lions rampant in the upper right and lower left quadrant first appeared on the coins of Carlos III (reigned 1759-1788). This one could be an 18th C. coin.

What a great piece!

I have seen this ukkil/okir on Maguindanao weaponry as well.

Like you I wonder if this guy was a convert to Catholic Christianity (some did), or if this was a cumulation of different talismans from different places. Did he trade in places where some of these empires touched the region (Dutch, English, China, etc.)?

I also wonder if it is an early 1900s piece passed down as pusaka and later generations added to it up into WWII?

The Catholic medallion has the Madonna and Christ Child on the back and on the front, it says, "Alphonsus Maria de Liguori".

Wikipedia says this:

"St. AlphonAlphonsus Liguori (1696–1787), sometimes called Alphonsus Maria de Liguori or Saint Alphonsus Liguori, was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian.

He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, in November 1732. In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti. A prolific writer, he published nine editions of his Moral Theology in his lifetime, in addition to other devotional and ascetic works and letters. Among his best known works are The Glories of Mary and The Way of the Cross, the latter still used in parishes during Lenten devotions.

He was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. One of the most widely read Catholic authors, he is the patron saint of confessors."

with all the coins, seems like this particular piece is more of a numismatist's dream, no?
Jose, that's one possiblity, about being a pusaka, although i've never heard of adding trinkets as it goes down from father to son. but then again, who knows?

understand too, that if it's indeed a Suluanon kampilan, Jolo port was actually a busy international port back in the days, albeit it was waning at the turn of the century. a lot of traders from all over Asia, Middle East and Europeans. some of these traders actually stayed and made Sulu their home. Capt Schuck from Germany for one, the Tan Family from China, etc.
here's another thing that crossed my mind... why didn't the original owner use any American or Filipino coin from that era? it was a common thing back then to use those due to their high silver content, and for their 'bling' effect.

i do know this: that particular medallion is popular among the Filipinos. since when, i have no idea.

What a great collection of talismans for one sword! :eek:

Wow, what a stunning kampy! :eek:

Could the christian aluminium medallion a part from a rosary?

Regards,
Detlef

I'm thinking this is a British Royal Fusiliers device.

Very Cool Sword; could it be an heirloom piece where each successive owner would embellish it with something meaningful to themselves.

BOOM! by God, you got it, Rick. thank you!

hello Detlef,
i don't think it is. i believe it's just a plain medallion

thank you, btw!

They are all symbols of power IMO.

I wonder if the ship with The British flag might not be an East India Co. coin. I'll bet one anchor button is British navy and the other with a crown and cannons could possibly be British Artillery?
I wonder if this sword has been in Malaya in the past.

It's a very special sword Ron; I think it's pretty old, and maybe someone tried to strip the finish from the hilt to enhance the value a bit? :confused:

AWESOME sword Ron! Somebody really liked their "ju-ju" and apparently wanted to make sure all their bases were covered!!! :D

Never had a drive to collect kamplian, but i might make an exception with this sword. ;)

ok, form everyone's help and guidance, this is what i've gathered so far:


large coin and inscribed with INDO-CHINE FRANCAISE 1897: Colonial French bronze coin worth 1 centime (1896-1939) (Ian)

Spanish coin from the period of Ferdinand VII (reigned 1808-1833). The inscription reads: Ferd.VII D.G.Hisp. Et ind.R. It could be an Octavo (18 mm diameter) or Quarto(22 mm diameter). Both were made from copper (Ian)

coin to the left is intriguing and I'm working on it. The one to the left of it is also interesting. There is no clear inscription, but the crowned royal shield with two lions rampant in the upper right and lower left quadrant first appeared on the coins of Carlos III (reigned 1759-1788). This one could be an 18th C. coin (Ian)

that's a few knocked off. the dates are concentrated around the end of 19th century. again, American coin is missing, so i think it's safe to say this was a pre 1898 kampy

British Royal Fusiliers badge (Rick). did a little research on this, and this was around the turn of the century

anchor button. British (Rick), or Royal Dutch

Coin with british ship and flag turned out to be 1/2 Penny from Canadian Provinces which was minted from 1790 to 1871

Infantry button, 1875-1931 (www.agmohio.com)

Artillery button Spain, date unknown

Chinese coin during the Reign of Xien Feng Emperor 1850 to 1861

With just reading the thread title and then jumping into the photos, my thoughts were, how lucky can Spunjer get that he acquired this Kampilan from someone wandering the streets with all their belongings. Turned out, after reading the post that it wasn’t the case. LOL

Thanks for sharing the photos of this Kampilan. I’ve never seen one before with the hair attached in this unique manner. This one reminds me of a bracelet with all those trinkets hanging from it.

Wow, this is a fashion kampilan!!!! I have never seen one kampilan with several coins and buttons.
Thanks for sharing
Carlos

That is exactly what it is. Unfortunately these medallions looked very much the same from the late 19th century up through WWII so it is a bit difficult to date.

The British coin is a (ships colonies and commerce coin 1/2 penny) Canada.

https://coinsite.com/ships-colonies-...mmerce-tokens/

I wouldn't be too sure about this, look for example two similar ones taken from the net.

Regards,
Detlef

There’s also a coin from Vittorio Emanuele II. Victor Emmanuel II was King of Sardinia from 23 March 1849 until 17 March 1861, when he assumed the title of King of Italy and became the first king of an independent, united Italy since the 6th century, a title he held until his death in 1878

Perhaps this kampilan was used in religious ceremonies and belonged to a local priest. Similar items are found among shamans of the peoples of Siberia.

How do you like this version?

Regards, Yuri