Two swords being repatriated to the Philippines

[Ian]

These two swords will shortly be making their way back to the Philippines for further study.



Bonifacio bolo (Tagalog: sangbartolome)

The top one is a large version of the sword attributed to Andres Bonifacio. His story as a Katipunero can be found elsewhere on these pages (search for Bonifacio or Bonafacio). That sword is based on one being wielded by S. Bartolome (St Bartholomew) in a statue housed in a local church. Hence the name sangbartolome (like St Bartholomew). This story has also been told elsewhere on the forum.

The example shown here is one of several forms of sangbartolome swords found in the Metro Manila area and nearby provinces. This one is large and has a heavy blade. The blade edge has a bevel on the obverse side and is flat on the reverse side. The spine of the blade is "double-clipped" (i.e. has two curved "dips" before coming to a point). The spine of the blade is also beveled (but not sharpened) in the two clipped sections. The horn hilt has a septagonal cross section with a small, similarly septagonal, brass ferrule. The pommel is a slightly swollen, down turned version of the grip. The full length tang is peined over a brass plate and washer.

The soon-to-be owner of this piece believes it was made in Laguna Province. There is a stamped mark on the blade: B5M : BAYAN

[Ian]

Bicolano Bat-Headed Sword

The second sword is a bat-headed bolo (don't know the local name) from the southern part of Bicol. Its blade was made by a genius of a panday. The spine is about 3/8 inch thick just in front of the hilt and rapidly narrows to about 1/16 inch where the clip to the point begins; thereafter it becomes a sharpened back edge. On each side of the blade, the blade is beveled in two directions, towards the cutting edge and towards the spine, resulting in a somewhat diamond cross-section. The beveling is more obvious on the obverse side where there is a small ridge running down the middle of the blade. While it sounds simple, it is complex and time-consuming to forge and grind such a blade symmetrically and have it all come to a nice acute point. The point shows use and has been bent and straightened a few times. The back and cutting edges also have nicks from use. Of note, the thickness of the blade is only 1-2 mm in its distal third, which makes it light and "fast;" well suited for cut and thrust at close quarters. The blade appears to have some age and has been used. Although the octagonal horn hilt seems quite modern with its finger grooves, I'm told that such hilts were around before WWII and that finger grooves may have been adopted from knives used by U.S. troops. I'm thinking this one probably dates from the WWII era.
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