Unusual Filipino knife

[Treeslicer]

It seems to me that we have been seeing a number of Philippine examples posted which blur the lines between different styles and cultural areas lately, all of which seem to be 20th. Century. I suspect that this is one of the effects of modernization of transportation and communications, of better education, and of increasing sociopolitical cohesion. I recently saw a YouTube video of currently active traditional handicraft bolo makers on Bohol producing a variety of styles including local partial-hilt chisel-ground designs, Luzon-style peened-tang flower-bud horn-hilted itaks, and modern-looking riveted scale through-tang machetes, all from the same smiths at the same forge. Perhaps our traditional pigeonholes are not only becoming obsolete, but may have been compromised by commerce for some time now.

[Sajen]

Hi Treeslicer,

I agree that the knife in question is 20th century manufacture but not recent, my age guess would be first quarter of the 20th century, maybe a little bit younger but clearly not recent.

Regards,
Detlef

[Treeslicer]

IMHO, early 20th. Century doesn't ensure stylistic purity. Didn't even the Spanish initiate some relocation of populations from one island to another before the Spanish-American War? There was a lot more moving around, and inter-island trade during American rule.

Edit-- We crossed messages a bit.

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Treeslicer

IMHO, early 20th. Century doesn't ensure stylistic purity. Didn't even the Spanish initiate some relocation of populations from one island to another before the Spanish-American War? There was a lot more moving around, and inter-island trade during American rule.

True. However, the displaced groups tended to retain much of their original cultural identity for some time, and it usually took a few generations for cultural mixing (such as intermarrying) to occur.

The Philippines has a strong blade culture, and cultural preferences for blade styles particular to a specific culture are especially strong--change and mixing of styles would have been slow in the examples you describe.

Ian.

[Rafngard]

Hello All,

I don't have any knowledge to contribute, but I wanted to say

1) Looks super cool. I hope someone on the forum got it.

2) I was also a bidder, but unfortunately was unavailable when this ended.

I look forward to learning from this thread.

Thanks,
Leif

[Ian]

Hi TS:

Yes, there does seem to be some melding of styles with modern Filipino knives. Based on personal observations, I think the commercial production of "mixed" styles probably started in the 1980s and has increased in the last 10-20 years, particularly as online commerce has increased and there has been greater interest in Filipino eskrima.

Your note about Bohol knives is well taken and there are tourist packages that include visits to Bohol knife makers. The same is true on Cebu. The mix of styles in these tourist spots may be dictated by the local commercial interests.

In the case of the topic of this thread, however, I think we are looking at a knife that was likely made about 50 years ago and reflects a more traditional mix based on geographic location. The accompanying leather sheath is of an older Luzon style and shows age-related deterioration.

Ian.