Aluminium hilted Filipino knives--an origin

[Ian]

If you have ventured onto online auction sites selling ethnographic knives you have likely seen many Filipino knives of similar style with cast aluminium hilts with finger cut outs and a tri-lobed pommel. Like the one shown here. Some of them have dates stamped into the hilts; the earliest I have seen is 1945, which gives a clue that these probably started as WWII souvenirs. The latest date I have seen was in the 1950s. Whether these were dates of manufacture, and production continued later but they simply stopped stamping the date on them, is unknown. Perhaps production ceased in the 1950s. The clipped blades on these knives can be sharpened but I doubt that they are tempered to any great degree. The knives often come in a simple leather sheath, usually red in my experience, that was stitched simply along the back.




It's been a bit of a mystery where they came from. Presumably the aluminium came from WWII debris, mostly downed planes (aluminium cans were not around until the 1960s). I have one knife stamped with "CEBU" on the hilt. The present example has information that may be a clue to the company that made them or sold them. Stamped on the back of the hilt:

OLYMPIO COMMERCIAL
PROGRESO ST CEBU CITY

So, a second reference to Cebu. Although there are several stores selling clothing—Olympia Commercial; Olympion Commercial—listed online in Cebu City, none are located in Progreso Street. The original company/store may have gone out of business or moved. Further investigation requires a trip to Cebu (wife permiting).

[h0ll0wman]

That is a very nice aluminum hilt. They still make these in the Philippines. I recently acquired an Espada y Daga set from Cebu but the hilts of these are not as ornate as yours and there are no date stamps.

[Ian]

Here are a few more from my collection. They illustrate the variety found in the hilts and scabbards of these blades. Most have a tri-lobed pommel that looks eastern Visayan. Several have a very different pommel and may be from elsewhere. One of the members here told me that some of these aluminium-hilted knives are made in Pagnasinan, and are therefore Ilokano in manufacture.


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