Visayan "pinuti"

[Ian]

A couple of months ago I was discussing this knife with Laban_Tayo (Shelley) who had also bid on it.

The knife came from a Visayan dealer in the Philippines. It has a blade that is slimmer than the usual talibon, with the usual wide bevel and chisel-ground edge of Visayan knives and swords. The dealer informed me that it was called a pinuti, which I believe means "pointy" in one of the Visayan dialects (please correct me if I have the translation wrong). The dealer went on to say that this knife was from the Eastern Visayas (Leyte or Samar) and probably around 60-80 years old.

OAL = 18.0 inches Blade = 13.5 inches

Ian.

[Spunjer]

never seen anything like it, ian, but as far as the term is concerned, pinuti was derived friom the word puti, meaning white.

[tom hyle]

Also rather matulis-like (as well as talibesque), especially if envisioned with the (probably older, and in any event, more common in my experience) curved spine to the cutting blade. I think I see the hardening line.

[Conogre]

On some of the "weapons of the Philippines" plaques that occasionally show up I've been able to enlarge the image enough to be able to read the inscriptions under each representation, one of which is often "pinuti".
As to the shape of the weapon, in most cases th miniatures are of such poor quality that few, if any, are recognizable, even in well known styles.
Mike

[RhysMichael]

Ian
In Mark V. Wiley's book "Filipino Martial Culture " He talks about a pinute as a type of bolo. He states that the term is derived from "puti" which means white , after the white ray of light that forms along the edge of a properly hardened and sharpened blade. So that re-enforces Spungers comment.
John

[Conogre]

I recently saw a statement saying that in some Philippine tribes, a blade must be cleaned to "whiteness" to be a true battle weapon, which would support what RhysMichael and Spunjer are saying, but also casts some doubt as to whether it's a specific style, or refers to any knife/sword, possibly indicating that a ritual cleansing is all that's required to turn a bladed piece from a tool to a weapon.
Often it appears the task ends up being to gather bits of information from several half truths, hopefully ending up with a/the correct whole at the end.
Mike

[Ian]

Spunjer, John, Mike -- thank you for your collective observations. I need to do some more reading -- thanks for the reference, John.

Ian.

[Federico]

Ive heard the word pinuti to describe what we generally call bonifacio style bolo, though in this case the polish received after forging is minimal (often alot of scale still on the blade), so the only time white metal shows is when the blade is sharpened correctly. My father used to say when his grandfather would play arnis with his bolo, he would always sharpen it. Just a random anecdote.

[Conogre]

"Playing" arnis with freshly sharpened weapons is a pretty good indicator of the skill level of the practitioner as well, so apparently you have a family history to be proud of.
I remember when a member of my own family's ardor for geneology cooled somewhat when she discovered an ancestor that was hanged as a horse thief!
Mike

[Ian]

Further pursuing narrow-bladed Visayan weapons that may be called pinuti, here is another one that I picked up a while ago. It is probably WWII vintage, judging from the old khaki-colored metal strips around the scabbard and hilt. These could be off old WWII ammo containers, which I have seen before on WWII era Philippine knives.

The hilt is one of those abbreviated kakatuas which are often found on the heavy, blunt-ended choppers from Panay, Negros -- binangon. The blade is basically a very skinny version of a tenegre. The edge is hardened, as seen in the pictures.

This sword is village quality in its construction, but does illustrate the pinuti theme.

[tom hyle]

Interesting that the temper line does not seem to curve back to go all the way to the tip(?) I have a parang nabur with a similar feature, which is common on kukuri.

[LabanTayo]

Here are 2 of my Tenegre / Pinuti

[Federico]

Originally Posted by Ian

Further pursuing narrow-bladed Visayan weapons that may be called pinuti, here is another one that I picked up a while ago. It is probably WWII vintage, judging from the old khaki-colored metal strips around the scabbard and hilt. These could be off old WWII ammo containers, which I have seen before on WWII era Philippine knives.

The hilt is one of those abbreviated kakatuas which are often found on the heavy, blunt-ended choppers from Panay, Negros -- binangon. The blade is basically a very skinny version of a tenegre. The edge is hardened, as seen in the pictures.

This sword is village quality in its construction, but does illustrate the pinuti theme.

I have a very similar blade that I bought from a vets son along with a diety hlted binangon. The father was stationed near Letye, but then we normally dont associate diety pieces with the area. Both bolo seemed of similar construction and age, and due to the presence of a circular wood guard on the diety piece, Zel suggested a possible much older date than WWII. Are the fittings brazed or solid? I know on mine, they feature old style brazing, something that dissappears in many bolo circa WWII.

[ibeam]

LT, great examples of Tenegre / pinuti. I like the left handed version.

Are Pinuti limited to only thin bladed Visayan swords? How about thin bladed swords from Luzon?? or are they named differently like Matulis na bolo?

[Ian]

'beam:

As you suggest, I think ang bolo na matulis would be an accurate description for a Luzon equivalent of the pinuti.

And then there is the Bonifacio, which I think is a long, clipped blade but I would appreciate someone providing examples of that particular style.

Ian.

Originally Posted by ibeam

LT, great examples of Tenegre / pinuti. I like the left handed version.

Are Pinuti limited to only thin bladed Visayan swords? How about thin bladed swords from Luzon?? or are they named differently like Matulis na bolo?

[Spunjer]

And then there is the Bonifacio, which I think is a long, clipped blade but I would appreciate someone providing examples of that particular style.

i was going ask about this particular type of sword, as i've seen an example with what appears to be a visayan type, only with a clipped point, ala bowie knife...

[tom hyle]

Bonifacio is an historical figure. One imagines that perhaps the association of a certain sword type with him may be both as vague and/or as well-founded as the Jim Bowie/Mexican bolo connection (which seems to me to run in the other direction than typically claimed in US, if it exists at all); in US, for whatever that's worth, it more seems to refer to the style of hilt; octagonal horn, usually a very stylized swell-centered hoof shape; with a long brass bolster (sometimes a ferule) and a certain characteristic often/usually cast-on brass European style guard as seen on "Africa, Naga, SE Asia?" in iron and likely European/Eurocolonial. There's great variety in the blades; I've heard that the "true" Bonifacio ones are either the bowie-like short-clip ones, or (variously) the matulis-like ones with long points. Squared/cut-point blades are also seen, and (I think newly) a wild profusion of other shapes. It seems to me to be the cultural successor to the older style matulis.

[Spunjer]

that's just it; i've never heard of "bonifacio" type sword until recently. whenever i see a pictures or sculptures(notably the bonifacio monument in Monumento, Caloocan city), of andres (bonifacio) weilding a sword, it's always what is comonly known as itak, nothing more. I wonder if this certain type (the "bonifacio") is derived from these pictures, or did andres has a specific type of itak? hmmmm....

[Rick]

This is what I understand to be a 'Bonifacio' bolo .
Corrections are more than welcome .

[Ian]

Thanks Rick. That was my understanding too. Be interesting to see what other styles people think are also called Bonifacio.

Andres Bonifacio -- born November 30, 1863 in the town of Tondo (now part of Manila). Growing up in humble surroundings, he was a smart guy and self-educated. Inspired by Jose Rizal, Bonifacio joined Rizal's La Liga Filipina which had been founded in 1892 as a peaceful brotherhood and charitable organization. With the arrest and exile of Rizal by the Spanish Government later the same year, Bonifacio became convinced that armed revolution was necessary.

On July 7, 1892 he founded a group called the K.K.K. which stood for Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan, or Katipunan, for short. A clandestine group that met secretly, it was open to Filipinos who sought to separate themselves from Spanish rule.

The Spanish uncovered the Katipunan plot on August 19, 1896, and set about capturing and executing the plotters. Bonifacio was ill prepared for a battle, but nevertheless, on August 30, 1896, led a band of 800 Katipuneros in an attack on a gunpowder storehouse in San Juan del Monte. An initially successful attack turned into disaster when Spanish reinorcements arrived. Nearly half of the Katipuneros were killed, or captured only to be executed shortly afterwards. Bonifacio and remnants of his group escaped to Cavite.

Shortly afterwards a rift developed between Bonifacio and Aguinaldo with the creation of two rival groups within the Katipunan. Aguinaldo eventually out manouvered Bonifacio and was elected the President of the revolutionary forces.

On April 26, 1897 Bonifacio was arrested by Aguinaldo's orders. Bonifacio, defiant to the end, put up a fight and was wounded during his capture. At a trial on May 8, 1897, both Bonifacio and his brother were sentenced to death by Aguinaldo's tribunal. Two days later they were executed near Lake Taal.

[tom hyle]

Rick, I think the flat guard on yours may make it different (older? at least stylistically?) than the ones I, at least, think of, which have similar handles, though the dog head is less usual than a hoof shape, and I don't know whether the type crossquard I described can be said to characterize the form or not; it seems to be one of the newer evolutions of matulis, etc. What a sentence structure; hopefully someone can make sense of it; I must pry myself up and do an errand of helping.....

[Federico]

Im with Rick and Ian, when I hear the word Bonifacio bolo, that is the style I think of. In modern terms, the vast majority of those Luzon "Negrito" bolo would fit with the Bonifacio style. Though along with what Spunjer is saying, I remember my dad telling me while this style is sold as the "Bonifacio" the actual bolo Bonifacio used was just a plain old bolo/itak. On a side note, my father used to tell me that the bolo his Waray Grandfather used for arnis, and called a sundang, was similar in blade shape to the "Bonifacio" style, just to throw some more confusion to the mix.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by tom hyle

Rick, I think the flat guard on yours may make it different (older? at least stylistically?) than the ones I, at least, think of, which have similar handles, though the dog head is less usual than a hoof shape, and I don't know whether the type crossquard I described can be said to characterize the form or not; it seems to be one of the newer evolutions of matulis, etc. What a sentence structure; hopefully someone can make sense of it; I must pry myself up and do an errand of helping.....

I suspect this one is SpanAm era but am not positive .
I believe I bought it from Oliver Perrin .
The guard is slightly dished with the concave side toward the point .

[tom hyle]

The doghead hilt on Rick's sword is sometimes seen on European machete blades. The usual attribution is PI. Thanks for the instructions on posting ebay links, Rick; one time when I'm less clouded I'll try to understand them; I may even succeed. For now, one such sword with a leather scabbard is ebay # 6527728238 (closed auction). I recently got an English Mole blade of very similar form mounted in a wooden boot type handle (usually considered Mexican; it's a Mexican style cowboy boot....), and in an identical sheath (including the suspension system) to the ebay one. Pancolonialism?........

[Rick]

It's not really a dog Tom .
It looks much more like the WWII era Elzie Segar cartoon character 'Jeep' from Popeye ; some of us older members might remember him .
But then if it is Span Am war era it could be more of a demon head of sorts , albeit a friendly one .

[tom hyle]

I see what you're saying; I was going by the ears and thinking the rest fell under the category of stylization. Looks more like a cat, I suppose (the side view looks a bit like the Penn State cougar), or Eugene the Jeep (I recall it at least sometimes having said name I suppose that makes the Jeep male, but who knows what it is? It isn't quite a baby.....). The ears, if anything, are bearlike, but could fall within cat or dog pretty easily, I think. Are there bears in PI? I'd expect so, but don't know. Interesting work on the ferule. Is the guard iron then?

[Ian]

Originally Posted by tom hyle

The doghead hilt on Rick's sword is sometimes seen on European machete blades. The usual attribution is PI. ... For now, one such sword with a leather scabbard is ebay # 6527728238 (closed auction). I recently got an English Mole blade of very similar form mounted in a wooden boot type handle (usually considered Mexican; it's a Mexican style cowboy boot....), and in an identical sheath (including the suspension system) to the ebay one. Pancolonialism?........

Tom:

I think those Mole swords with the Caribbean treatment almost always come from the West Indies. The one that you list has a scabbard marked Trinidad BWI (British West Indies) -- mostly WWII vintage I think. Quite common to see these with carved native heads on the hilts, and a wire wrap to the lower area of the hilt is common too.

Ian.

[tom hyle]

I agree (the one on ebay is wrapped in string, but wire is more common, and is what is on my boot sword, and is also common on N American both Indian and rural/low-caste work, too.), but what I find interesting is the form of the head; it is not one I see on ID'd Caribean stuff, but usually as PI.....do you think this is basically a matter of common mis-ID, and the type is Caribean? The head on Rick's is a bit different, but mainly in the nose, and seems to fit the category, while the blade, etc. are clearly PI....coincidence?

[Rick]

Originally Posted by tom hyle

I see what you're saying; I was going by the ears and thinking the rest fell under the category of stylization. Looks more like a cat, I suppose (the side view looks a bit like the Penn State cougar), or Eugene the Jeep (I recall it at least sometimes having said name I suppose that makes the Jeep male, but who knows what it is? It isn't quite a baby.....). The ears, if anything, are bearlike, but could fall within cat or dog pretty easily, I think. Are there bears in PI? I'd expect so, but don't know. Interesting work on the ferule. Is the guard iron then?

Hi Tom , after giving the spine of the blade a close look with a strong magnifying glass I've come to the conclusion that there is a center core with cheeks of steel laminated on either side of the blade . This is most evident before the clip begins . So this would be a san mai type of construction then ?
I believe the guard is made from the same material as the cheeks ; I drew a file across a small part of the edge of the guard .