Unusual Filipino knife

[Ian]

One of our fellow Forumites recently sold this unusual Filipino knife online. At first sight it seems to be Visayan plamingko, but on closer inspection it does not have the customary blind tang hilt of Visayan knives and swords. Rather it has an end plate with a peined full-length tang, indicating a Luzon connection. The blade is quite wide and has a flat cutting edge, while most Visayan plamingko have a curved cutting edge.

There are two main areas where Visayan and Luzon styles tend to merge--Batangas and Bicol. Given the wide blade on this one, my thought was that it may be Bicolano because wide-bladed knives from that region seem to be fairy common.

I've included a picture also of one of my Visayan plamingko to show the prominent choil or "finger notch" similar to the area seen on the knife above. This may be a feature adopted from certain Spanish knives. The tri-lobed flower carved on the end of the hilt is a common Visayan feature, but the shape of the pommel itself seems more Luzon in style.

An interesting cross-regional Filipino knife, and I hope Rick S. and other Philippine weapons enthusiasts will offer some more comments on this one.

Ian.

[Sajen]

Hi Ian,

thank you for bringing up this interesting topic. I was one of the low bidders and only don't went higher because I was interested to an other sword which will soon get posted. Do you are the lucky winner?
I've discussed this knife with a good friend who think that it is from Batangas but I am more with you, my feeling tell me that it is from Bicol.
The resemblance with the Visayan plamingkos I've noticed as well also when plamingkos (like your example) have a bellied edge and the knife in question has a straight edge. Like you I am curious what others have to say about this most interesting knife.

Regards,
Detlef

[Ian]

Hi Detlef:

Unfortunately, I was not the high bidder. It went for about $20 more than I wanted to pay. As far as being from Batangas or Bicol, I think one could argue for either. The wider blade is what swayed me towards Bicol because Bicolanos seem to like heavy bladed knives.

Ian.

[Treeslicer]

It seems to me that we have been seeing a number of Philippine examples posted which blur the lines between different styles and cultural areas lately, all of which seem to be 20th. Century. I suspect that this is one of the effects of modernization of transportation and communications, of better education, and of increasing sociopolitical cohesion. I recently saw a YouTube video of currently active traditional handicraft bolo makers on Bohol producing a variety of styles including local partial-hilt chisel-ground designs, Luzon-style peened-tang flower-bud horn-hilted itaks, and modern-looking riveted scale through-tang machetes, all from the same smiths at the same forge. Perhaps our traditional pigeonholes are not only becoming obsolete, but may have been compromised by commerce for some time now.

[Sajen]

Hi Treeslicer,

I agree that the knife in question is 20th century manufacture but not recent, my age guess would be first quarter of the 20th century, maybe a little bit younger but clearly not recent.

Regards,
Detlef

[Ian]

Hi TS:

Yes, there does seem to be some melding of styles with modern Filipino knives. Based on personal observations, I think the commercial production of "mixed" styles probably started in the 1980s and has increased in the last 10-20 years, particularly as online commerce has increased and there has been greater interest in Filipino eskrima.

Your note about Bohol knives is well taken and there are tourist packages that include visits to Bohol knife makers. The same is true on Cebu. The mix of styles in these tourist spots may be dictated by the local commercial interests.

In the case of the topic of this thread, however, I think we are looking at a knife that was likely made about 50 years ago and reflects a more traditional mix based on geographic location. The accompanying leather sheath is of an older Luzon style and shows age-related deterioration.

Ian.

[Treeslicer]

IMHO, early 20th. Century doesn't ensure stylistic purity. Didn't even the Spanish initiate some relocation of populations from one island to another before the Spanish-American War? There was a lot more moving around, and inter-island trade during American rule.

Edit-- We crossed messages a bit.

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Treeslicer

IMHO, early 20th. Century doesn't ensure stylistic purity. Didn't even the Spanish initiate some relocation of populations from one island to another before the Spanish-American War? There was a lot more moving around, and inter-island trade during American rule.

True. However, the displaced groups tended to retain much of their original cultural identity for some time, and it usually took a few generations for cultural mixing (such as intermarrying) to occur.

The Philippines has a strong blade culture, and cultural preferences for blade styles particular to a specific culture are especially strong--change and mixing of styles would have been slow in the examples you describe.

Ian.

[Rafngard]

Hello All,

I don't have any knowledge to contribute, but I wanted to say

1) Looks super cool. I hope someone on the forum got it.

2) I was also a bidder, but unfortunately was unavailable when this ended.

I look forward to learning from this thread.

Thanks,
Leif