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#1 |
EAAF Staff
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Centerville, Kansas
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As I have been absent from the forum for awhile I thought that this might make a nice piece for discussion. I picked this up a few weeks ago and even though I have not had time to to give it a proper cleaning and because of the rarity of these pieces thought I would post it as it arrived. It was misidentified and listed as a Moro panabas instead of an Ilongot "eyaya" in the auction description. For some reason even though it appeared to have
quite a few watchers the auction ended with this piece selling for what I considered a very low price. The wooden scabbard is in very nice condition and appears to retains most if not all of its brass wire decorations. Of all the twisted wire with red bead and shell decoration only two appear to be missing and another is missing only the small shell piece at its end. Replacement pieces should be easy enough to make. The knifes hilt is wood covered with a combination of round copper and twisted brass wire. It also has a guard/ferrule made from a piece of highly polished bone. The blade has unfortunately suffered from years of neglect and will requite a bit of serious cleaning. I apologize for the poor photo quality as I used a camera that I am not familiar with. Any comments or information offered would be greatly appreciated. Best, Robert |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Apr 2005
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Wow, Robert, that's a super-rare grab, and a bargain at that!
![]() ![]() Congrats! Did you try to obtain more on its provenance? Regards, Kai |
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#3 |
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Hello Kai, and thank you for your kind words on what I consider to be one of my best finds. Right after the auction had ended I sent the seller an email asking for any information that he might have on this other than what was stated in the auction description. Unfortunately I had never heard back from him. After your question about provenance I decided to send another request for information and hopefully someone will respond this time. I know of a few other Ilongot items that have been discussed here on the forum in the past so when starting this thread I was also hoping others members who have examples tucked away in their own collections might dust them off and post them here as well. Below is the description as posted by the seller.
Auction Description. Antique Tribal Filipino War Philippines 19 Century Moro Sword w Scabbard Panabas Up For Auction Is Original Antique 19th Century Filipino Panabas Sword With Scabbard,. Sword is approx 15" long scabbard is approx 18" long. Pieces will make a terrific object for any student or appreciators collection of African art and artifacts. Please see pics for condition. Best, Robert |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Jan 2008
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Looks a very interesting old piece, congratulations.
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#5 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 7,189
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Nice. A different version.
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#6 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: The Aussie Bush
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Hi Robert:
Nice piece indeed. The Ilongot knives and swords are hard to find. I believe this knife is used for the harvesting of rice. However, the scabbard seems particularly good for what may be a tool. Perhaps the scabbard was made for a different knife or this knife had other purposes (? ceremonial). The knife looks older than the scabbard. Ian |
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#7 | |
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#8 |
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The first cutting of rice used to be an holy act throughout the archipelago.
Crafting well-decorated ceremonial tools for this purpose and safeguarding them as heirloom makes perfect sense to me. Regards, Kai |
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#9 | ||
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Best, Robert |
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#10 | |
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#11 |
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Oh I agree with you and Kai. Ceremonial rice knives would be in better dress.
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#12 |
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Thank you all very much for your kind words and thoughts on this most interesting, unusual and probably rare item. If it is the consensus that my latest treasure (even though not an actual weapon) was most likely used as a ceremonial rice harvesting knife I couldn't be happier. As we all know anything can be used as a weapon, but to me finding the original intended purpose of an item such as this is much more important. I now hope to someday find a photo or drawing of another example of this knife (or at least very similar) with a description of its use or (if you are going to dream you might as well dream big) an old photo showing one actually being used.
![]() ![]() Best, Robert |
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#13 | |
Vikingsword Staff
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Location: The Aussie Bush
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#14 | |
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Hello Robert,
Quote:
I believe the only straightforward approach would be to test the DNA; this would need a small hole to be drilled into the bone. A sample could be taken from the inside alternatively. I guess though, you'd not be keen on having this ferrule temporarily removed from the hilt, too... While it would be interesting to know the origin of the bone, I'm not sure it is of enough importance to initiate scientific analysis. Regards, Kai |
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#15 | |
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#16 | ||
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Thank you all once again for your thoughts on this piece. Best, Robert |
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#17 | |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
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![]() ![]() Here a picture from my "takip ny bekur", an Ilongot bolo which was once discussed here: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=ilongot Regards, Detlef |
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#18 |
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Hello Detlef and thank you for adding your thoughts on this unusual knife. The name "Eyaya" comes from "Resource Management In Ancestral Lands The Bugkalots In Northeastern Luzon" By Dante M. Aquino. This was sent to me by our good friend Lorenz. There is another name also mentioned in this paper, one that I should have mentioned when I first posted this example. That name is "Kumpat" meaning curved scythe for harvesting rice. After reading the responses from everyone I now believe that Kumpat might be a more appropriate name for this knife. I wish that some day I could find an example such as the one you have in your link to go with mine.
![]() Best, Robert |
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#19 | |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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Thank you very much for clarification! ![]() Regards, Detlef |
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