Looking vintage and antique samples of Talibong of Panay Island

[Spunjer]

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[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Spunjer

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Can't stop drooling...Spunjer, those are some holy grail talibongs you've got...

[Spunjer]

and here's one that's gonna throw you off.
i'm willing to bet the original owner was from Panay

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Spunjer

and here's one that's gonna throw you off.
i'm willing to bet the original owner was from Panay

Ah yes one of the legendary curios in this forum. I've seen it before and it's one heck of a hybrid!

Handling-wise though- how do you find your talibongs? Which one do you like best in terms of balance? Are some too heavy or too light? Which one is your personal favorite?

[Spunjer]

Handling wise? they're all balanced. but if i have to pick a translator from stick to blade, i would go with this bad boy. it's light, and still sharp after all these years

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Robert

Actually I prefer the older working examples and most of my collection is made up of these with a few more elaborate pieces thrown in when I find ones that I can afford. You are quite correct that these older pieces are built like tanks with most blades being at least 1/4 inch thick or more, beautifully made and of wonderful craftsmanship. I have added one more photo of an older example from my collection, but this one has the more elaborate deity hilt and buffalo horn guard. Sorry about the poor quality of the photo.

That's a great example, and in my eyes an in-between of utility to elaborate talibongs

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Spunjer

Handling wise? they're all balanced. but if i have to pick a translator from stick to blade, i would go with this bad boy. it's light, and still sharp after all these years

That's great! Yep it looks light and nimble. What strikes me is that the Panay talibongs, in general, seem well suited for eskrima. Then a friend reminded me of the wealth of eskrima systems originating from Panay, and it makes sense

[Sajen]

Thank you everybody for showing your great examples of tenegre and binangons, like said, great examples!

Here my collection of Visayan tenegre and binangons, three examples I can't show for the moment since they are in the States for restoration. Sorry for the bad lighting, it's not the best light condition in the moment in Germany.

[Battara]

I lightened these up a little for you Detlef. Hope this helps some.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Battara

I lightened these up a little for you Detlef. Hope this helps some.

Thank you Jose, I've lightened them up already a little bit before, it was raining yesterday the complete day with bad light circumstance.

Regards,
Detlef

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Thank you everybody for showing your great examples of tenegre and binangons, like said, great examples!

Here my collection of Visayan tenegre and binangons, three examples I can't show for the moment since they are in the States for restoration. Sorry for the bad lighting, it's not the best light condition in the moment in Germany.

Hi Detlef, thanks for these gorgeous samples- I'm curious, what are the round things on the figural hilt of the one in the middle? Do they serve like the metal add-ons found in the figural hilt of other talibongs, or they seem to have been there since the start?

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by xasterix

Hi Detlef, thanks for these gorgeous samples- I'm curious, what are the round things on the figural hilt of the one in the middle? Do they serve like the metal add-ons found in the figural hilt of other talibongs, or they seem to have been there since the start?

Hi Xas,

First thank you for the compliment! The middle sword has a guard from black horn and it's oval. Judging from the patination I belive that it's the original guard or at last a very old replacement. Do you have a guess from where this sword coming exact? Here is the original thread where I have shown it first: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...light=minasbad

Regards,
Detlef

[shayde78]

Beautiful items, everyone!
Here is my recently acquired example. A few questions:
- The pommels on these seem to share a similar convention. What/who
are they intended to represent?
- On my example below, I guessed from the condition of the leather, and
comparing to WWI and WWII leather I have on bayonet sheaths, that
this might date from the 1940s, or so. Thoughts on this assessment?
- The edge is beveled only on the one side. This seems to be similar to the
other examples on this thread. Is this always the case, or is it indicative
age and/or locale?

As always, thanks for the information, and apologies if these questions have already been addressed earlier in the thread.

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Hi Xas,

First thank you for the compliment! The middle sword has a guard from black horn and it's oval. Judging from the patination I belive that it's the original guard or at last a very old replacement. Do you have a guess from where this sword coming exact? Here is the original thread where I have shown it first: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...light=minasbad

Regards,
Detlef

You're welcome, your collection deserves praise haha. My Ilonggo friend said that the shorter talibongs are probably from Negros, while the longer ones are from Iloilo.

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by shayde78

Beautiful items, everyone!
Here is my recently acquired example. A few questions:
- The pommels on these seem to share a similar convention. What/who
are they intended to represent?
- On my example below, I guessed from the condition of the leather, and
comparing to WWI and WWII leather I have on bayonet sheaths, that
this might date from the 1940s, or so. Thoughts on this assessment?
- The edge is beveled only on the one side. This seems to be similar to the
other examples on this thread. Is this always the case, or is it indicative
age and/or locale?

As always, thanks for the information, and apologies if these questions have already been addressed earlier in the thread.

Hello mr shayde! I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability and accumulated knowledge so far.

1. The figural hilts represent various deities that can be found in the old, animist religion that was already present before the Philippines was colonized. Certain deities may be indicative of a specific location in Panay Island wherein a particular blade originated. For example, wooden scabbards with the "J" shape plus figural hilts with very long horns are indicative of Aklan. Deities with oblong, horn-less faces with brass accents on the hilt and scabbard have been attributed to Iloilo. And so on and so forth.

2. I'm not good at estimating age, but I think 1940s would be just about right.

3. Visayan blades are usually chisel grind (beveled at one side) even up to now.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by xasterix

You're welcome, your collection deserves praise haha. My Ilonggo friend said that the shorter talibongs are probably from Negros, while the longer ones are from Iloilo.

Salamat for both, special that the sword in the middle could originate from Negros!

Regards,
Detlef

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by shayde78

- The pommels on these seem to share a similar convention. What/who are they intended to represent?

In short these pommels represent anitos, in your case it's bakunawa.

Originally Posted by shayde78

- On my example below, I guessed from the condition of the leather, and comparing to WWI and WWII leather I have on bayonet sheaths, that this might date from the 1940s, or so. Thoughts on this assessment?

Like Xasterix I would agree.

Originally Posted by shayde78

- The edge is beveled only on the one side. This seems to be similar to the other examples on this thread. Is this always the case, or is it indicative age and/or locale?

Xasterix has stated it already, typical for all blades from the Visayas.

Regards,
Detlef

[shayde78]

Originally Posted by xasterix

Hello mr shayde! I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability and accumulated knowledge so far.

1. The figural hilts represent various deities that can be found in the old, animist religion that was already present before the Philippines was colonized. Certain deities may be indicative of a specific location in Panay Island wherein a particular blade originated. For example, wooden scabbards with the "J" shape plus figural hilts with very long horns are indicative of Aklan. Deities with oblong, horn-less faces with brass accents on the hilt and scabbard have been attributed to Iloilo. And so on and so forth.

2. I'm not good at estimating age, but I think 1940s would be just about right.

3. Visayan blades are usually chisel grind (beveled at one side) even up to now.

Thank you both Xasterix and Detlef! This is very helpful information, and I appreciate you both sharing your knowledge.
Best,
-Rob

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by shayde78

Thank you both Xasterix and Detlef! This is very helpful information, and I appreciate you both sharing your knowledge.
Best,
-Rob

You're welcome, Rob! I passed on my Iloilo talibong to an Ilonggo blade expert; he's currently on the hunt for more identifiers / indicators that would clearly ascertain the differences / unique features for talibongs hailing from Panay / Negros / and even possibly Guimaras islands. The key lies in surviving tribal octagenarians who can identify the vintage and antique talibong samples as hailing from a particular location. I'll update when the info becomes available.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by xasterix

You're welcome, Rob! I passed on my Iloilo talibong to an Ilonggo blade expert; he's currently on the hunt for more identifiers / indicators that would clearly ascertain the differences / unique features for talibongs hailing from Panay / Negros / and even possibly Guimaras islands. The key lies in surviving tribal octagenarians who can identify the vintage and antique talibong samples as hailing from a particular location. I'll update when the info becomes available.

Hi Xas,

I am curious to read once the result of his research!

Regards,
Detlef

[kino]

Does this qualify as being from Panay.

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by kino

Does this qualify as being from Panay.

Halloo there sorry I missed your previous post! Yes I believe it does

[Sajen]

A recent addition to the collection. Sadly no scabbard. 65,3 cm long, blade 50,5 cm, 1,4 mm thick behind the guard, 716 gram.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by xasterix

Hi Detlef, thanks for these gorgeous samples- I'm curious, what are the round things on the figural hilt of the one in the middle? Do they serve like the metal add-ons found in the figural hilt of other talibongs, or they seem to have been there since the start?

Hi Xas,

Just noticed that I don't answer your question correctly! What you see are something like bullen-nails, a few are new since I have added lost ones. If they are born with the sword I can't say but the present ones when I received the sword had been fairly old.

Regards,
Detlef