Weird Philippine sword/bolo

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by ThePepperSkull

^ I have heard very similar stories regarding many WWII era philippine blades. I wonder if this was because the Japanese soldiers preferred to use the enemy's Bolos as opposed to their own blades. I don't know much about their wartime-produced swords aside from the fact that they were mass produced and ssupposedly of lesser quality than than of a traditinally-made nihonto. Did they have a habit of breaking? Were the blades too long? Or was it just that the length of blade was too much for jungle warfare? I am not sure, but hopefully someone can illuminate this discussion.

Speaking of bicolano blades, Here's one that just ended on ebay (And that I missed out on bidding because I thought it ended tomorrow instead of today. D'oh!)

Congrats to whoever won it. I'm not sure exactly if this is a bicolano piece (The sheath carvings look different to me, as well as the blade being a single bevel as opposed to souble bevel like all of the other bicol blades I have seen.)

Another thing to note is that the sheath is Kamagong on one side and on the other side a lighter toned wood (I think it's either Molave of Yakal). This is a feature that you see in Philippine blades from Luzon even today, Mainly I believe it's because Kamagong is expensive and more coveted than other woods.

Hi Dave,

I have seen this sword as well and asked the seller if he will ship to Germany but he don't want, otherwise it will be now mine!
IMHO it is a Bicol bolo when I look to the hilt carving (batman ). Nice old sword and from me also congrats for the winner.
Have you noted that the sheath from my sword is made from two different wood as well?

Regards,

Detlef

[Sajen]

Received the bolo knife and have had some surprise. First I have thought that it is bigger but it is rather small, 44 cm inside the sheath with a blade from 28,5 cm. Handle is from horn and the blade have on front some engravings. The bands are from brass like from Dave supposed. He is also correct that there is shellac in front of the scabbard. So we can assume by the way of making and the information of the seller that it is a WWII area piece. Here some additional pictures.

Regards,

Detlef

[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 .

[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.