Presumed Philippine?

[Lee]

Received from new member, Gacho77, who desires to learn what it is and whether it belongs in a museum or the trash can. More the former, I believe. I suspect it is from the Philippines.

[Sajen]

Hello Lee,

It's trash! Gacho may feel free to send it to me so that I can take care of its disposal free of charge.

Seriously, it's a rare Negrito dipalata from Luzon, a nice one!

For comparison look here:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...light=dipalata
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...light=dipalata
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...t=negrito+bolo

Regards,
Detlef

[David R]

Not trash!

[Ian]

Agree. This is a rare sword in very good condition. It is museum worthy but I would discourage trying to persuade a museum in the Philippines to purchase it. Items have a way of "disappearing" from museum inventory and into someone's private collection.

If the owner is wanting to repatriate it it, then I would consider one of our Filipino members in the Philippines if it were mine. As always, any transactions should be conducted via the PM contact system.

[chmorshuutz]

I imagine Philippine collectors would be drooling over this. I heard that dipalata of Aeta people is supposedly the rarest Philippine traditional blade.

[Battara]

It is very rare, never mind having the scabbard with it.

I know of a family in the Philippines of a famous PI general at the turn of the century. The sword with their family name on it was offered to 12 of his officers (so only 12 made). They loaned it to a local museum who later sold it to a private collector without their consent.

I also have one of these, acquired before this incident. Antiques Road Show told me it is a national treasure but DO NOT repatriate it - it will only go in the front door and out the back.

So I agree with Ian. For now don't repatriate it unless you know the Filipino collector over there.......and perhaps even then.............

[Ian]

Originally Posted by chmorshuutz

I imagine Philippine collectors would be drooling over this. I heard that dipalata of Aeta people is supposedly the rarest Philippine traditional blade.

Yes, one of the rarest traditional Filipino blades. The Aeta are not a very large ethnic group, so their traditional swords do not come on to the market very often. The dipalata is uncommon among the Aeta, and rarely comes up for sale.

[kino]

This one was auctioned off today.

[Ian]

kino,

What a coincidence! A similar scabbard also. Would you mind posting a link to the auction page. I think Gallo77 has had his example for several years.

Ian.

[kino]

Czerny’s auction. Dec. 12th.
There was a notable knife from Luzon that had a beautifully carved hilt in the same auction.

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by chmorshuutz

I imagine Philippine collectors would be drooling over this. I heard that dipalata of Aeta people is supposedly the rarest Philippine traditional blade.

Halloo! While "dipalata" is a very rare blade, IMO it's not the rarest. I've seen at least 12 (the one in this post is the 12th) samples of it already. The rarest is an extra-long hinalung-like sword from the Cordilleras (I've only ever seen one antique sample of such), the next rarest would be extra-long Pangasinan talunasan (I only know of three old samples of that).

Anyway, to get back to the topic at hand- I believe "dipalata" may be an assembled/hybrid blade; the Aeta from Central Luzon, particularly Zambales, have been documented to buy or commission blades from pandays in lowland areas (especially Apalit, Pampanga). Afterwards, they may have dressed up these blades according to their tribe's aesthetic traditions.

I'll try to look into it in the future, and find more evidence to substantiate my theory.

[David R]

Truthfully,... and sadly, some or even many western museums have a "lost in transit" problem. Some of them of the highest repute!

[Ian]

Originally Posted by xasterix

...Anyway, to get back to the topic at hand- I believe "dipalata" may be an assembled/hybrid blade; the Aeta from Central Luzon, particularly Zambales, have been documented to buy or commission blades from pandays in lowland areas (especially Apalit, Pampanga). Afterwards, they may have dressed up these blades according to their tribe's aesthetic traditions. ...

I believe that this is correct, xas. IIRCC, Fox (1947) noted that the Aeta were an iron-poor culture and frequently re-used iron objects for spear and arrow heads, etc. He noted that they obtained blades from neighboring communities. Several blade profiles, such as the katana and hundang, were made in Pampanga. The article by Fox is in the Archives.