Bagobo (?) man's working knife

[Ian]

This one will be with me in a couple of weeks. From the auction pictures shown below, it appears to me to be a fairly old example of a Bagobo man's working knife. It has been said that most Bagobo men carry a working knife, but relatively few of the older style knives seem to be around today. In the last 50+ years it seems that Bagobo men have adopted a larger version of the more familiar "women's working knife."

I believe the one shown in the attached pics is an example of an older style of men's working knife. I attribute it to the Bagobo based on the hilt style and especially the pommel which is carved in a manner reminiscent of older Bagobo swords. Overall length 48 cm (about 19 in.)

I would be interested to hear especially from our Filipino colleagues as to what they think of this knife. As always, all thoughts and comments would be much appreciated.

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