Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Ian · 15th December 2024, 01:58 PM

Rob,

Thanks for the clarification. The prominent "chisel" grind on these knives suggests that a Visayan origin is more likely than a Luzon origin. There are some regions within the island of Luzon that produce knives with a chisel grind, but they are relatively uncommon.

I would look at other areas of the Visayas as possible origins also. Cebu may be a possibility. It is a densely populated island that is politically important and likely to have a lot of foreigners interested in this knife style. Also the Eastern Visayas (Leyte and Samar) were the landing place for Macarthur's forces when he famously returned to the Philippines in WWII.

As far as the "Bowie" descriptor used so frequently nowadays, this is mostly a U.S. infatuation. Clipped knives have been around longer than the original "Bowie" knife. The practice of calling almost any clipped-point fixed blade a "Bowie knife" has got out of hand in relation to what the original knife is believed to have been. It seems to have become more of a marketing term than a defensible description of a class of large fighting knife.

The knife you show, excluding the chisel grind on the edge, is probably derived originally from various Mediterranean knives (fixed and folding blades) that were brought to the islands by the Spanish colonialists. IIRC the Spanish/Mediterranean clipped knives knives date back at least as far as the 18th C, perhaps earlier. There are some similar blade forms in Mexico that likely trace their origins to Spanish-derived Mediterranean blade styles also.

15th December 2024, 01:58 PM	#8
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,333	Rob, Thanks for the clarification. The prominent "chisel" grind on these knives suggests that a Visayan origin is more likely than a Luzon origin. There are some regions within the island of Luzon that produce knives with a chisel grind, but they are relatively uncommon. I would look at other areas of the Visayas as possible origins also. Cebu may be a possibility. It is a densely populated island that is politically important and likely to have a lot of foreigners interested in this knife style. Also the Eastern Visayas (Leyte and Samar) were the landing place for Macarthur's forces when he famously returned to the Philippines in WWII. As far as the "Bowie" descriptor used so frequently nowadays, this is mostly a U.S. infatuation. Clipped knives have been around longer than the original "Bowie" knife. The practice of calling almost any clipped-point fixed blade a "Bowie knife" has got out of hand in relation to what the original knife is believed to have been. It seems to have become more of a marketing term than a defensible description of a class of large fighting knife. The knife you show, excluding the chisel grind on the edge, is probably derived originally from various Mediterranean knives (fixed and folding blades) that were brought to the islands by the Spanish colonialists. IIRC the Spanish/Mediterranean clipped knives knives date back at least as far as the 18th C, perhaps earlier. There are some similar blade forms in Mexico that likely trace their origins to Spanish-derived Mediterranean blade styles also.