thanks, vandoo!
about the fist pommel, in this
thread i mentioned that:
"At Museo del Ejercito in Toledo, Spain, there's a Katipunan banner with this image -- two arms shown just from the elbow to the hands; one is holding a blade, and the other is holding by the hair a severed head of what looks a Caucasian (full beard, etc.); the two hands were depicted as a closed fist, especially the one holding the decapitated head by its hair. Thus perhaps (but am just speculating), the closed fist pommel design is related to this Katipunan imagery."
now one of the pics shows human(?) hair being grasped by the fist. if the hair was part of the original sword, then it all adds up.
the deeper significance is that in the philippines' precolonial days, human hair is sometimes used to decorate a sword (kampilan), shield, etc.
and we all know that the 19th century revolutionary katipunan army was also a movement to go back and remember the precolonial ways of filipinos.
it would surely be great to see more examples of the katipunan fist pommel with human hair in its grasp.