Looking vintage and antique samples of Talibong of Panay Island

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by David

Interesting that my blade would be classified for the same blade profile as Detlef's. True, the both seem to have a false top edge at the tip, but my tip seems more like a clip point. Detlef's bottom edge seems perfectly straight, while mine bellies a bit and curves upward at the tip. Also not visible in my photos is the the reverse side of my blade is perfectly flat, while the side shown in my photos is more concave (in an angular fashion), giving it a similar design to a mandau. I cannot tell for sure if Detlef's blade does this or not. Can you confirm?
I don't believe it was i who was curious about the manner of dress for this blade. While i appreciate your description of cultural usage i'm fairly certain that my example was made for a returning WWII U.S. soldier, especially given the American eagle holding the crossed U.S. and Filipino flags with the word "Victory" on the banner.

My apologies, David, upon closer inspection yours is actually Bakutan. The blade profiles can be quite confusing; good thing you pointed out that it bellies a bit. I'm confident that Detlef's is also chisel grind (that's the usual configuration of Visayan blades; one side beveled, the other flat). It's highly possible that it was already in use before the War, and was given in gratitude to a U.S. soldier. Interesting thing about that false edge- even in modern talibongs, sometimes it's there, sometimes it isn't.