Excellent Philippine flambé sword

[Ian]

Time for Spring cleaning and thinning out the bolo band and the dha herd. Here's the first of several that I will be selling over the next few months. I will put them here first for my Fellow Forumites to pick over, and if you don't want them we'll try eBay.

This is one I have had since 1996. Purchased in Manila from a prominent antique dealer, this dates from late in the Spanish period of governing the Philippines (c. 1890-1900). In some people's chronologies this makes it a Span-Am War relic. [I have no way of knowing if that is true]

The blade is single-edged with a full length tang hilt. This is a long sword by Philippine standards (OAL = 31.25 inches, Blade = 26 inches, Width of blade adjacent to guard = 1.5 inches, Thickness of blade at forte = 0.25 inches).

The blade has been forged from a series of rods welded together. Etching of the blade reveals the typical pattern of a piled rod construction, with some attractive laminated patterns where the blade has been ground at the edges. There are a few old grinding marks and a little pitting towards the tip. The edge has been ground and polished to razor sharpness.

The hilt has a steel S-guard, a steel ferrule and a horn handle; there is a steel disk at the end of the hilt over which the tang has been peened. The steel guard is a little loose, as most of these are on older Philippine pieces.

This is the best example of a Philippine flambé sword that I have seen. Please PM me for a price, shipping, insurance, etc. If you need more pictures, send me a PM.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...mbeSword1b.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...mbeSword1a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...mbeSword1c.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...mbeSword1d.jpg

Ian.

[Robert]

Ian, you've got PM.