Machete from Span-Am war?

machinist · 9th February 2015, 03:26 AM

I have purchased one of these Guanabacoa swords and thought I would add the pics and a little info to this thread, There is a book accessible online called The Annual Register of World Events that was supposedly published in 1805 about events of importance or interest happening in1803https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z...0sword&f=false

The description of the swords seems spot-on and that gives us a verifiable date for these and an implication they must have been used earlier in the 1700s as well as a description of who carried them and a bit of info on their lives.

The blade is stamped MARIAN and I am curious about all the little stamps these swords seem to carry.

mdp10003 · 10th February 2015, 01:50 AM

I have seen at least 2 examples like this that were attributed to the Philippines, but the references here do suggest that they are Cuban. The attribution to the Philippines did not seem to be strongly supported.

machinist · 10th February 2015, 02:43 AM

I think the attribution to the Philippines may be partially because it was such an unknown piece for many dealers and they had to come up with some provenance so why not the Philippines, and the attribution would carry on for years however some may have been carried far abroad as sailors and soldiers do travel.
I have seen several Chinese and south Asian spearheads offered as Spanish colonial And it is difficult to tell a sellers boosting of an object from an item that was brought here in olden days.
Here is another picture of a relatively more modern machete supposedly from Cuba patterned after the old style

9th February 2015, 03:26 AM	#1
machinist Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 93	I have purchased one of these Guanabacoa swords and thought I would add the pics and a little info to this thread, There is a book accessible online called The Annual Register of World Events that was supposedly published in 1805 about events of importance or interest happening in1803https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z...0sword&f=false The description of the swords seems spot-on and that gives us a verifiable date for these and an implication they must have been used earlier in the 1700s as well as a description of who carried them and a bit of info on their lives. The blade is stamped MARIAN and I am curious about all the little stamps these swords seem to carry. Attached Images Last edited by machinist; 9th February 2015 at 03:40 AM.

10th February 2015, 02:43 AM	#3
machinist Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 93	I think the attribution to the Philippines may be partially because it was such an unknown piece for many dealers and they had to come up with some provenance so why not the Philippines, and the attribution would carry on for years however some may have been carried far abroad as sailors and soldiers do travel. I have seen several Chinese and south Asian spearheads offered as Spanish colonial And it is difficult to tell a sellers boosting of an object from an item that was brought here in olden days. Here is another picture of a relatively more modern machete supposedly from Cuba patterned after the old style Attached Images

10th February 2015, 01:50 AM	#2
mdp10003 Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 28	I have seen at least 2 examples like this that were attributed to the Philippines, but the references here do suggest that they are Cuban. The attribution to the Philippines did not seem to be strongly supported.