Very Unusual Philippine Sword.

[Robert]

Here is a very unusual Philippine sword from my collection with a decorative scabbard that was made from a discarded sugar tin. I believe this piece to be from central Luzon and would date to the late 19th or early 20th century. Because of the material used in the making of the scabbard this could very possibly be from the Subic Bay area where a sugar tin such as the one used would have been readily available from the trash of the American Naval Forces stationed there.
Originally I was not going to post photos of this piece until it was finished,
but decided instead to show it in the different stages of restoration.
At some point in its history the last (approximately) four inches of blade and
scabbard were bent sideways almost to the point of snapping the blade into. When I received it the blade and scabbard had been straighten out far enough for the blade to once again slide in and out freely, but the blade itself was broken about three quarters of the way through from the cutting edge to the spine. It has since been welded back together. I will post more photos of this item as the work progresses with close-ups of the blade repair. Any comments or information that anyone would like to add would be greatly appreciated. I apologise for the poor quality of most of these photos.

Best,
Robert