Dagger For Identification
 

This is another dagger that I've had for a few years now. The problem I have is trying to figure out if it is Spanish Colonial Philippine or something else all together. The sheath that came with it looks like one from a tombak (woven band at top fishing line at bottom) but fits the blade perfectly. The blade shows an inserted hardened edge and some damage and signs of resharpening close the the hilt which throws off the blade symmetry. The hilt itself is made of a dense hard wood instead of horn. The guard and pommel are cast brass. The other strange thing about the guard is that the quillons are dove-tailed into the central section. My guess is that this is an old repair as it seems to be to labor intensive for any reproduction knife. The tang goes through the hilt and is peened over. Comments welcomed.

Blade length 9-1/2" measured from the brass to tip
Blade at thickest 1/4"
Blade at widest 1"
Hilt 4-1/2"

Robert

HHmmmm......well, the blade speaks Ilocos Norte on the eastern side of Luzon, Philippines. The hilt for the most part seems Spanish influenced Katipunan. The guard I have seen on northern daggers of the period. I doubt the sheath is original to the piece.

Take a close look at the hilt to see if the dark parts are horn.

Hi Jose,
The hilt is a very dense hard wood not the horn that you would expect to see on a Philippine dagger. That is one of the thing that has me wondering where this is from. The quillons on the guard like I said above are dove-tailed into the central section which I'm guessing is an old repair. I can't get a good picture to show the way they are done. The sheath came with it when I bought it. I'm sure that originally came with a leather one. This one looks like a tombak sheath to me.

Robert

I agree - it looks like a tombak sheath. However, the blade is Ilocano without question. Different guards were used when ever they could find them is would seem. I do agree though that this guard is a little unusual for a PI Katipunan dagger. STill I think you have a PI piece.

Jose,
That's great. I'm glad that you think it is Pi. That way it fits in with the rest of my collection. I'm thinking this is late 19th to early 20th century. What are you thoughts on this?

Robert

I think you are on target. :)