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#1 |
EAAF Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 7,200
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Greetings,
I got this little beauty a while back. Confirmation from Nacho and Migueldiaz, I believe this to be a ba'id, a "chopper" from Bicol. It is dated "1735 AD" on the ferrule with dark patina inside the engraved date upon deep magnification. As far as I know, we have not seen a piece this early. The hilt is made of carved horn with the tang going through the hilt (see pictures). The quality ferrule is brass, and the mounts are silver with silver nails. I believe the pommel to be a form of aso, a dog/dragon. You can see the shape of the blade. Engravings are on one side only, and there are 2 grooves on top, ending with a bird and flower. There is a lot of pitting on the blade, especially on the back, but you can still see laminations in the blade. In fact, the distill end of the blade where it is concave, it looks like to me that there is an inner core of steel surrounded by other steel. These first pictures are as I got it, half of the silver mounts remaining, and many nails missing. |
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#2 |
EAAF Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 7,200
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Now here is the piece after my restorations. I based these on what was already there, and on the pin holes present and where they were placed.
I did the silver mounts in sterling silver sheet, and had to make roughly 34 silver nails by hand. After that, I saw evidence of lamination, so I etched it and found it as well as being surprised by a core. |
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#3 |
EAAF Staff
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 7,200
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Finally here are some close ups of the blade:
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#4 |
Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
Posts: 8,731
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Wow, what a beautiful chopper!
![]() ![]() Jose, you really need a new camera! ![]() Best regards, Detlef |
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#5 |
EAAF Staff
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Centerville, Kansas
Posts: 2,196
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Jose, What a rare and wonderful find !!! I have never seen another exactly like this before though I have seen one other Philippine chopper with the exact same blade shape only minus the fullers but it was fitted with a much planer hilt. Excellent restoration work as usual. I do see that the small retaining plate where the tang extends through the hilt is still missing. Do you think that it would have been made of silver to match the rest of the more decorative bits, or possibly steel or brass for more strength? Could you possibly post the dimensions of this piece for future reference. My sincere congratulations to you on not only having the good fortune in finding such a rare piece, but also on the great restoration work that you have done to preserve it for later generations to admire.
Best, Robert |
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#6 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 114
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well done.......................jimmy
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