Moro kampilan (?) Spanish American war era
 

I attended a militaria show this weekend and purchased this interesting Moro sword. The dealer is a friend who acquired this and other Moro bladed weapons that were brought back by US soldiers from the Spanish American war. Some of the pieces (not mine) have old museum tags on them.

I bought this piece because of the dragon head handle and the overall good condition of it. I don't know if kampilan is the right term for this sword. The blade is not the typical kampilan style. It is very sharp, and as found slices paper quite nicely. There are markings on the spine of the blade, XXX. Not sure if these indicate anything or just decoration. The blade measures 17-1/2 inches/ 44.45cm.

The handle is horn, with a great carved dragon head. The handle appears to be pinned in two places to the tang. I've never seen this on a Filipino sword. I don't have any reason to doubt the age of the sword as presented to me, but would like the opinions of other members. Also, if it is indeed a product of the Moros. My friend still has another sword, similar to mine, a nice barong, and two Moro kris swords all from the same collection for sale. Hopefully I can acquire these at some point from him.

Regards,
Andrew

Not a kampilan but a ginunting if I'm not mistaken.

Nice score. Blade certainly looks ginunting-like based on classifications I have learned here. Is it chisel ground? The guard style is not typical for these nor the pins securing the handle but the scabbard, ferrule and dragon would align with that classification. Kino posted an unusual old dragon handled ginunting-like sword with atypical guard. We have also seen some Visayan daggers with similar guard style. They would be more typical of Luzon. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=29866. Can we get a better picture of the dragon?

Here's a closer picture of the dragon head. It has mother of pearl inserts for the eyes. I also added a picture of the blade and the markings on the spine. The blade is not chisel grind, not like the talabongs I have in my collection. It has a slight bevel on each side.

Thanks for clarifying the name of this type of sword!

Andrew

Interesting, I only have one Visayan sword with double grind - it may be uncommon. I posted that one previously but it did not draw much conversation. I think that the triple X on spine is fairly common including parallel lines on the sides, but not sure on what look to be Roman tally mark 5's on your example though. It would certainly be interesting if these markings are intended to be numbers. Here is a likely 19C Visayan sword that I have with XXX spine markings. Hope to hear from the experts.

Being completely unfamiliar with Filipino weapons, I have had this example for more years than I can say, always thinking of it as a 'bolo' (no laughing) with that as a catch all term I guess.

It seems to have a resemblance to this posted example IMO. Could this be one of these? Are these indeed Moro? I presume also a Spanish-American war bringback.

The reason I got it was the hilt style with guard had a characteristic similarity to the Spanish colonial espada ancha, and figured it was reflecting influences of those much earlier swords but with Filipino blade.

Kampilan
 

For those reading I wanted to add this, which is an actual 'KAMPILAN' (I do know this much on Filipino swords) to illustrate the form referred to.
I presume it is Moro, but am aware these were used elsewhere in the archipelagos from the Philippines into Indonesian areas in degree.

As I have understood, the term 'kampilan' may be a term for 'sword' in Filipino dialects which perhaps was used more collectively in earlier times.
When Ferdinand Magellan was killed in altercation with native tribes at Mactan in the Philippines April 27,1521, a period account states he was killed with a 'cutlass' resembling a 'scimitar'. These vague terms seem to have been embellished later using the term 'kampilan' but may have been adjusted using this Filipino term. Modern literature uses this term in noting this event.
Very much an example of how terms for local ethnographic weapon forms can be mistranslated and transliterated causing notable confusion semantically in research.

I would place this piece (original) with the dragon head as Visayan, who made other examples like this.

Traditional ginunting from Panay, the scabbard shape is also the same with those from Iloilo. The hilt is bakunawa form.

Though I wouldn't fault it if sometimes they get confused with blades from other parts of the Philippines because such profile also exists elsewhere.

So if I understand, my example in post #6 is Visayan?
I presume you guys are referring to Andrews example. While not trying to derail the thread, I thought perhaps in discussion as a comparison it might add perspective.

Hi Jim,

I think that your example is from Luzon.

Regards,
Detlef

Detlef, thank you so much for responding to my question, very much appreciated. :)
Jim

You're welcome! ;):)

I would love to hear more about it if anyone has insight. How long is the blade? So I guess this would be a revolutionary sword either Philippine Revolution or Philippine American War (likely latter as a bring back) and likely Luzon because of the strong Spanish design influence (Visayas, Moro etc had their own distinct blade culture) as well as the regimented military style of some of the Luzon conflicts. Since it is presumably not a calvary piece, does the length indicate officer use?

Hi Jim,

Your sword in post #6 is unlikely to be Visayan. As noted by Sajen already it is more likely from Luzon. There are swords from Cebu that show similar hilts, presumably because it was a significant city with heavy Spanish influence, but I think this is more likely a Luzon sword. The narrow ricasso is unusual for Luzon swords, although we do see that feature on some Bicol swords such as the minasbad. I also have a bat-headed sword from Bicol that has a clipped blade and a narrow "waist" at the ricasso.

Bicol swords and knives seem to be a nexus of Luzon and Visayan styles, and some Bicol blades have chisel grinds. There are other scattered areas in Luzon where chisel ground blades are found, but they are not commonly made on Luzon.

The blade seems also to be unusually long (a measured length would help), and elsewhere on these pages it has been noted several times that during WWII swords of increased length were produced to counter the Japanese katana. If the blade on your sword is 28+ inches in length, then I think it is likely WWII era in manufacture. It is my understanding that swords of that length were rarely (if ever) made in Luzon and the Visayas before WWII. However, xasterix is the one here who can give you the best reading on that issue.

Lastly, the guard. Yes, it does resemble those on some of the espada ancha from Latin America. However, Chinese influence is also a possibility, especially in regard to the D-guard with down-turned quillion.

Regards, Ian.

Thank you so much guys! As I noted, I know very little on the weapons in this field, but acquired this during the decades I was studying espada anchas and the similarity (Ian-very good point I had not thought of! the Chinese style) in the hilt.
I dont have the actual weapon at hand, but it seems the blade was 22-23".

It seems a rugged, ersatz style example, so the wartime possibility seems likely.

I really appreciate the input, and Ian for going into such detail. The specialty in studying the weapons of these areas is so complicated! but incredibly fascinating, I can see why the profound interest!

Just saw this on Facebook. New book with fascinating historic uniforms. One of the pages shows that, indeed, there was calvary employing long swords.

That looks like a Must Buy book for me as I grow my collection of Philippine weapons from this era. Also like the Remington Rolling Blocks! I had a Spanish-made licensed RB (Spanish American War bringback) which is most likely what these soldiers were carrying.

Andrew