A less than common Kampilan

[kai]

Hello Jose,

Ian, I base my thoughts on what I have seen of Ilanun kampilans, especially the hilts, which are like this one and do not seem to have "eyes", as well as seemingly slightly truncated pommel with a larger lower "jaw".

I am seeing a typical old-style hilt (of higher than average quality). While this type of hilt does show up on Borneo (arguably more often than on Mindanao), I'd posit that it is a generic Moro style that is not limited to Ilanum origin: it seems to have been widespread and just run out of fashion throughout Mindanao while being retained by Moro expat communities on Borneo and possibly elsewhere. Despite their relative rarity, there are IMHO way too many kampilan with this type of hilt in old US collections to allow a strict Ilanum connection (and some even come with sound provenance to Mindanao).

The hilts which may be restricted to Borneo are considerably more "blocky" and ideally come with disks and additional hair tassels (cp. some pics in the linked thread).

Regards,
Kai