Two new Philippine Acquisitions to share

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Ian

Hi drac,

Two nice weapons there. The kris blade appears to be Maranao in origin, probably late 19th/very early 20th C. The fighting knife is interesting, and I would like to hear what xasterix has to say about its origin. However, given the Baguio inscription on the sheath, it likely comes from northern Luzon in which case I would say it is Ilokano/Tinguian in manufacture.

Ian

Thanks for the redirect Ian =)

Short answer- in my conjecture, the knife comes from Apalit, Pampanga, as the hilt and scabbard combo is consistent with other Apalit blades from a certain time period =)

Long answer- I don't think it's Tinguian. To my knowledge, most of the weapons that the Tinguians possessed were acquired via barter, usually from Ilocos Norte. There were certain weapons produced, however, that were distinctly Tinguian-made, and this is identifiable via the scabbard and hilt (which is not the case with this sample, there's no distinct Tinguian signature). This was also the case with the Negritos, who bartered most of their weapons from Apalit, Pampanga. Same goes for the Lumad tribes in Mindanao, who acquired blades (sometimes even the whole sword) through barter from the BangsaMoro tribes, then personalized it according to their unique tribal signatures. The Baguio-marked blade has a similar build to other Apalit blades I've seen.