Philippino Bowie/Navaja
 

Hello all,

Longtime watcher, first time poster. I have quite an interesting Philippine dagger, appears to have a silver plate blade, with a carved horn handle. Any ideas on it would be appreciated.

Best
LL

LL, What an absolute beautiful knife. You have been very fortunate indeed to be able to acquire such a piece. I would say it is a Luzon piece from the late 19th to early 20th century. I have not seen this particular blade shape before but there were many different styles that were made and new ones seem to pop up all the time. All that silver and the craftsmanship that went into the making of this knife is amazing. My congratulations to you on the most wonderful find. If you don't mind, could you post the dimensions of this to go along with the photos?

Robert

Are we sure this is from the Philippines. The carving on the hilt looks more Indonesian to me, maybe Sumatra… :shrug:
Beautiful knife either way. :)

Hi David, I am looking for other examples of hilt carving like this now. If memoir serves me correctly both Jose and Carlos have items with this same carving on the hilts. I was hoping one or both of the two mentioned would see this and either dispute or verify my thoughts on this piece. In the mean time I will keep searching. :D

Robert

Here is a link to a thread that shows quite a few different items with carved horn hilts. In one of the photos posted by VANDOO there is a knife similar to the one shown above. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12686

Thanks Robert. I see the similarities. :)

I agree it is Luzono, late 19th century. When I get the chance I will post some pictures. These well carved horn hilts are on pieces from both Luzon and the Visayas.

Hi all

Thanks for all the comments. I had an idea that it was Visayan but Filipino and Southeast Asian items are out of my full range of knowledge. The dimensions are as follows:

11" overall 6" blade 2.5" width of blade.

Looks very much like a Filipino insipired navaja to me...which would make sense considering the historical record.

hello LL,
welcome! now that's one cool dagger you got there!!! yes, it's 1st revolutionary era piece. the blade profile does looks like a navaja, but it also reminds me of a stubby version of a visayan blade colloquially known as plamingko. the handles on these pieces have somewhat similar motif to the rank insignias of the 1st Revolutionary soldiers. it has been postulated then, that the carvings on the handle signified the rank of the original owner.
what's interesting is your description of the blade; it's silver???
i have posted mine for comparison. the handle is similar, but with a more common design blade.

The blade is not silver but appears to have been silver plated. I purchased it as a "fish serving knife" as the owner thought the silver plate made it part of a serving set. I knew better, that it was likely Filipino, but not much more than that. That's particularly interesting that this would have been of the revolutionary era and that the carving would reflect the rank of the officer. It's just loads better quality than much of the other Filipino items that have passed through my hands.

best
LL

Was it silver plated or nickel plated? Many Americans and British loved to nickel plate blades (and throw away the scabbards :eek: ).

Very beautiful piece, I love this combination.
I had seen one similar in a spanish museum, in the national Museum of Antrophologhy , in Madrid.

My piece have a similar engraved hilt

This is a picture from the piece of the museum.
best regards
carlos

Hi Carlos

That is really a fantastic reference. I also believe that it is silver plated as it appears that some of it is tarnished dark where the plating remains. The blade itself is really quite well made with a fine taper and sharp as well.

This item is currently being offered for sale on a commercial website.