Finally...Central Luzon origin

[Ian]

The style of hilt on this knife has bugged me for years as to where it comes from: polygonal small ferrule (in this case septagonal), often with a larger polygonal wooden ring above it that is attached to a "chunky" handle which finishes in a tapered end that might be representative of a snake's head. These are almost always full tang and peened over at the end of the hilt with a butt plate to secure the end of the tang.

There are many different types of blades with these hilts. Each one has seemed "hefty" in the hand, made for hard work, and would make a formidable weapon, even if they are designed mainly as working bolos.

The knife pictured here finished on eBay today. It has the clue to the origin of these knives with the name, "APA??T," at forte over two initials "EB." The fourth and fifth letters are indistinct and partly composed of a vertical line--the possibilities for each letter are "I" or "L." So the possible combinations are APAIIT, APAILT, APALIT, and APALLT. The most likely candidate seemed to be APALIT, but I googled all four and added the search term "Philippines."

APALIT was the only one to return any relevant hits. It is a town in Pampanga Province, part of Metro Manila and within 20 miles of the old Subic Bay and Clarke Air Force Base sites. This town has been a prominent center for cutlery since at least Revolutionary times, and Pampanga has links to the revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio who had family in the area.

Further research revealed a blog discussing a modern day panday and showed some rather poor pics of his workshop and him forging a bolo (see here).

I have yet to find who "EB" might be.

[Ian]

This one also finished at auction in the last two days. The hilts are very similar but the blades are clearly different. This one carries a date of 1959 on the wooden scabbard, and was probably a bring-back by a US serviceman stationed at Subic Bay or Clarke AFB. It has some letters at forte that are indistinguishable in these photos and I will post better pics after it arrives.

[Robert]

Ian, here is another from Apalit made by "Castro and Son" that I have in my personal collection. The thread is located here http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ht=castro+sons I have a couple more in my collection and as you say they are heavy, well made and would make formidable weapons if needed. I believe that this one would definitely fall into the personal weapon class as I do not believe that it was ever meant to see fieldwork, unless it was on a battlefield. The others were brought back by returning servicemen after the war.

Best,
Robert

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Robert

Ian, here is another from Apalit made by "Castro and Son" that I have in my personal collection. The thread is located here http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ht=castro+sons I have a couple more in my collection and as you say they are heavy, well made and would make formidable weapons if needed. I believe that this one would definitely fall into the personal weapon class as I do not believe that it was ever meant to see fieldwork, unless it was on a battlefield. The others were brought back by returning servicemen after the war.

Best,
Robert

Robert:

Thank you for the response and interesting knife that you showed in the earlier thread. There seems to be a commonality with the ferrule and adjacent wooden polygonal rings, and the scabbards each have a wooden tongue that would aid in hanging them from a belt or tucked into the waist of pants.

Yours definitely appears to be a weapon from around the time of the Revolution. I'm not seeing any of the typical Katapunero symbols on the scabbard but the clenched fist on the hilt would fit with that period and later. Would not be surprised if this is an 1890s piece. Very nice knife.

Ian.

[Robert]

Ian, Thank you for your kind words on the one example that I posted. I have also noticed a couple of other things of interest on the pieces. The older examples that I have seen all have had a toe on the end of the scabbard and are always held together by the use of wires going through small holes bored through the scabbards while the scabbards on later examples (like the second one you have posted) are missing the toe and all have been held together by the use of small nails. All of the ones that I have been able to personally handle have always been very well made and meant for business. Is the first one you posted yours?

Best,
Robert

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Robert

Ian, Thank you for your kind words on the one example that I posted. I have also noticed a couple of other things of interest on the pieces. The older examples that I have seen all have had a toe on the end of the scabbard and are always held together by the use of wires going through small holes bored through the scabbards while the scabbards on later examples (like the second one you have posted) are missing the toe and all have been held together by the use of small nails. All of the ones that I have been able to personally handle have always been very well made and meant for business. Is the first one you posted yours?

Best,
Robert

Thanks again. Very useful information Robert. Both of these are mine. I bought them in the last couple of days and should have them shortly for closer inspection.

Ian.

[Robert]

Wonderful, I'm glad that you won them both. One other thing I thought I would mention. Every one of these Apalit swords/bolos that I have seen have had this same drop point style of blade. Have you ever seen one that doesn't?

Best,
Robert

[Dimasalang]

Just found this tid-bit of info on where the name Bartolome came from, it is named after Saint Bartholomew[same as Bartolome], which happened to be the patron Saint of Malabon(town located just north of Manila next to Caloocan). The Katipuneros of Malabon idolized the image because San Bartolome wielded a sword. But the sword he carries is not wavy. The image posted is from San Bartolome Church in Malabon City. This church was not destroyed during WWII, so I would believe this is the very statue that the Katipuneros looked at.

This is also information on the province of Pampangas town festivals, specifically Magalang.
16. SAN BARTOLOME APOSTOL (MAGALANG) Feast August 24; Preached in Asia Minor, northern India and martyred in Armenia where he was flayed alive and then beheaded-the basis for his patronage of tanners. A local knife called sangbartolome is named after him.


Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Asia: From the Taiping Rebellion to the Vietnam War (2007)
Author: Stewart Lone