Weird Philippine sword/bolo

[Sajen]

This one ended recently by ebay. I am not the winner but I recognize the "bucao" stampon the blade. What will be the meaning?

[migueldiaz]

Thanks for the pics. There's a "Bucao" street in Iriga City, Albay province in the Bicol region, which province is known for producing traditional Bicol blades. And Bucao is a family name.

Iriga City by the way is a place to go to, if one is looking for newly made traditional Bicol blades.

[migueldiaz]

And bocao also happened to be a Bicol term for a knife or tool, per the entry below in Marcos de Lisboa's 1754 Bicol-Spanish dictionary.

Perhaps our Spanish-speaking friends can translate the entire definition under bocao?

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by migueldiaz

Thanks for the pics. There's a "Bucao" street in Iriga City, Albay province in the Bicol region, which province is known for producing traditional Bicol blades. And Bucao is a family name.

Iriga City by the way is a place to go to, if one is looking for newly made traditional Bicol blades.

Thank you for the further informations!

Regards,

Detlef

[migueldiaz]

From Malcolm Mintz's Bicol-English dictionary (thanks to Nonoy Tan):

bukaw [pronounced BOO-cow] - referring to a knife or other tool or implement which is in the process of being forged or an earthenware pot which is in the process of being worked; MA-, -ON or MAG-, PAG--ON to be in the process of working on a knife, took, pot [MDL, i.e., Marcos de Lisboa]

[Rick]

A work in progress; steel or clay ?
Something is missing .

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Rick

A work in progress; steel or clay ?
Something is missing .

That's all that those two dictionaries can offer

Hence the "Bucao" engraved on the blade must be referring to the owner's family name...

[Robert]

Seeing as it can refer to a knife, tool, other implement or pot being worked (possibly at a certain stage) could it just be a term for heat treated ??

Robert

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Sajen

This one ended recently by ebay. I am not the winner but I recognize the "bucao" stampon the blade. What will be the meaning?

I was looking through this old thread and came across the name BUCAO, which is place I have actually been through. It is located not in Bicol, but in the province of La Union, just south of Ilocos Sur and part of the traditional Ilocano area. The hilt on this knife (shown in post number 19) is distinctly different from the other knives shown here and is in the horse hoof style that I associate with Ilocano work. Therefore, I think this particular knife was at least hilted in northern Luzon, perhaps using a Bicol blade.

The elusive name DUGGAN in post number 27 is more likely to be DUBBAN which is near to the town of IRIGA in CAMARINES SUR (part of Bicol region)--as found on another example below (also post number 27)--and a recognized area for knife production.

In my experience, inscriptions on Luzon blades are most likely to indicate town of manufacture or simply state "Philippines." The next most common inscription is a date of manufacture or a commemorative date (e.g., 1945 is a common commemorative date, representing the year Macarthur returned to the Philippines, and not necessarily the date the knife was made). Occasionally a panday will "sign" his work with his initials. Lastly, and usually found only on higher end pieces, may be some personal information about the owner, such as a name, initials or special inscription/dedication. Owner's names and initials are more commonly found on sheaths than on blades.

Ian.