Katipunan Dagger

[Robert]

As I have not posted much for awhile now I though that I would see what the experts have to say about this latest addition to my collection.
I was fortunate enough to be able to win this piece on eBay a couple of weeks back due mostly to the way it was listed and described.
After it arrived it was given a light cleaning to remove the tarnish from the silver fittings and the small amount of rust that
had formed on the blade. The leather of the scabbard was also very dry and had started to crack so after cleaning with saddle soap
it received a coating of mink oil to help preserve and stop any further deterioration. Some of the iconography used on this piece
is of a very early Katipunan form with the main one being the use of the three circles arranged to form a triangle on each end and
both sides of the guard. These were used as an early form of rank designation and could be as shown on this piece, or with the letter
"K" in the center of the grouping in a later form. The sun face on this piece is also different from most as it is not shown in a
triangle with either a star or the letter "K'"in each corner, but by itself with three stars in the form of a mountain above it. As pieces
from this era are an important part of his studies I contacted Lorenz AKA Migueldiaz to ask his thoughts on this dagger and with his
permission here is his reply:

Hello Robert, thanks for sending me photos of your latest Katipunan find. As always, those are very interesting pieces. I'm sure the
forum members will be able to provide you with more information. Here's my small contribution, for your consideration: (a) as a quick
review, better Katipunan or First Republic daggers would have the usual iconography like the triangle, the sun-face, the orb on the
hilt's end, three stars, and other 'plays' on the tripartite theme like a triangular cross-section of the blade ('tres cantos'), etc.;
(b) thus your dagger has all those and much more; (c) for instance, both ends of the cross guard has three circles (symbolizing the sun)
arranged in the shape of a triangle, and this is the first time I've seen this rendition; (d) it also has a pair metal cladding on the
scabbard in which three 'mountains' (triangles) were rendered in a semi-abstract fashion, with suns atop each one; and (e) the scabbard
maker must had really been artistic as he arranged the three pairs of mountain-sun asymmetrically, which I think is a nice out of the
box touch. The abundance of symbols embedded on a Southeast Asian weapon was important to the mindset then, because similar to the
Indonesian keris, the Filipino's bladed weapons were also seen as talismans. The other thing worth pointing out is that to our
warrior-forefathers, the bladed weapon does not only contain talismanic symbols, but the very weapon itself is a talisman. Hence to their
thinking, the mere possession of it already serves a great function. Thanks again for sharing with me the photos of the dagger.
Best wishes - Lorenz.

Any and all comments or information that anyone would care to offer on this piece would be greatly appreciated.

Best,
Robert