Looking vintage and antique samples of Talibong of Panay Island

[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.