Tenegre
 

Hello members,

I have just bought this Visayan tenegre by best offer. What do you think? A part of the nose seems to be reglued and a small piece of the nose tip is missing. Special the age of this piece would be of great interest for me.

Regards,

Detlef

Hello Detlef, By looking at the carving I would guess that it is second quarter 20th century "1925-1950" and if I had to narrow it down I would say 1935-1945. That would be my best guess but it is just that, a guess. Others with more knowledge will answer and be able to give you a more exact age that I can. A very nice item though and my congratulation on your new acquisition to your collection.

Robert

Hello Robert,

thank you! Have hoped that it is a little bit older but still ok by the price I have paid for. :) And I every time I want to have one, so this is maybe a good start.

Regards,

Detlef

It is a lowlander tenegre. I guess it could be a little older, say 1920, but I am in agreement with Robert on this. STill not a bad little piece. Congrats!

Very nice Detlef. Congrats on this very nice piece.

Hello Jose,

thank you ver much for your comment and narrow down the origin. :)


Hello Henk,

also to you thank's! I ever want to have such a tenegre and this one was cheap and with complete sheath.

Look here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...K%3AMEWNX%3AIT

Regards,

Detlef

Hello Detlef,

Certainly a nice grab complete with good scabbard. Is the brass ferrule strong? (Looks a bit thin from the pics.)

Could this be an early 20th c. blade that got rehilted later (like WW2 or thereabouts)? The workmanship and wear on the hilt doesn't look on par with the blade and scabbard IMVHO.

Regards,
Kai

Hello Kai,

thank you for comment. :) Can't answer your inquiry about the ferrule since I don't received the tenegre until now.

Regarding the hilt you may be correct as it seems that the hilt isn't deep enough on the tang. :shrug:

Regards,

Detlef

I think Kai has a point (get it! :D ) this may have been rehilted to an older blade.

Received the sword yesterday. You may be correct that the sword was rehilted not only because the different wear but as well as it seems that the used wood isn't a good one (maybe coconut tree).
The brass ferrule is a little bit more than 1 mm. I don't know how strong it is by older ones.
The tip of the blade was compressed but this I have grinded with a stone.
Will post some pictures later.

Regards,

Detlef

Hello Detlef,
I am looking forward to seeing the new pictures of this very nice piece. When you post them could you please also post the measurements, total length of the sword, blade length, width at the widest point and the thickness of the blade at the hilt? Again congratulations on a very nice score.

Robert

Hello Robert,

here at first the measurements. Total length: 61 cm (24 inch), blade: 45,5 (17.9), width at the widest point: 4,5 (1.8) and the thickness near the hilt is 1,6 mm (0,06).
I have oiled the wooden parts with a wood oil and the leather with dubbin and the blade I oiled with WD40.
Some questions to you and all others:
I think that there is a missing guard down under the handle, what do you think?
Shall I clean the brass parts? I personally think it is better to keep them like this.
Shall I clean the blade more?

Here some additional pictures taken with flash light.

Regards,

Detlef

Hello Detlef,

Something must be wrong with the thickness - 1.6mm would be flimsy and the pics suggest otherwise...


It doesn't look like it ever had a metal guard (requires a reasonably well filed blade where the tang meets) but guard disks made from horn were the norm. Does anyone has pics of tangs of such swords?

My best guess is that the blade got just sloppily fitted when the rehilting was done. Should be fairly easy to get a better fit if you reattach the blade.


Most likely these were kept polished/shiny. Nothing wrong to go by personal preference though, I guess.


I'd remove the blade (modern glue) and give it a quick etch: it looks nice enough to possibly be laminated. If it is, some more polishing and careful etching might be warranted.

Regards,
Kai

Over 1mm sounds reasonable. Craftmanship of the ferrule (and brass pieces on scabbard) looks post-WW2 to me but seems to be ok to keep this way.

Compressed? Many smaller blade damages can be carefully straigthened out - I'd be reluctant to grind away even minor defects (to avoid loss of metal, changing the shape, etc.).

Regards,
Kai

Kai is right it is possible to straighten out the blade without regrinding it. I have done this plenty of times but very carefully with soft hammers, especially if it is in the temper line.

Hello Detlef, In answer to your questions, IMHO I do not think that this ever had a guard. Looking at the lower side of the blade you can see that it has been notched to fit inside the ferrule. That way when you go to reset the blade you will know how far into the hilt to set it. I agree with Kai that the blade looks like it was " just sloppily fitted" after the hilt was either replaced or had loosened and was just poorly reattached with a modern adhesive. As far as the brass fittings, I have been told that it is better to leave brass alone unless it is showing green oxidation. On cleaning the blade, if you are going to etch it I would say yes, if not I would just give it a light cleaning, oil it, wipe off all of the excess oil and apply a coat of ren wax. I hope that this is of some help.

Robert

Hello Kai,

you are correct, my mistake by the thickness of the blade, 6,1 mm is the correct measurement.
I will dismantling the handle and follow your advice about etching and reattaching the handle.
The compression at the blade tip was very very minor, like someone bump the blade on the ground, look the picture, the shape of the blade isn't changed.

Thank you very much,

Detlef

Hello Jose,

next time I will follow your and Kai's advice to straighten out the demage.

Regards,

Detlef

Hello Robert,

thank you for the comment. Like I write before I will dismantling the handle next time and etch the blade before I attach the handle again. The brass fittings I will let alone for the moment since I like the patina and don't want to bring the sword to a unused look.
I will post pictures when I have done the work.

Best regards,

Detlef