A "new" Luzon bolo enter the collection

[Battara]

Yeah I never bought the "katana" nomenclature for this.

Would this be Pangasinan or Pampangan?

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Battara

Yeah I never bought the "katana" nomenclature for this.

Would this be Pangasinan or Pampangan?

In my research, the original (and proper) term for the Pampanga-made "katana" blade is "tulipas." This has been mentioned in both documentation and oral tradition- of Pampanga-lineage blacksmiths.

I believe the blade in question is Pangasinan since:

1) I've never seen a Kapampangan-made blade with that engraving. In contrast, I've seen those on Pangasinan blades.

2) A feature of the "brother" blade- a spine gimping pattern- is also present in one of my younger, Pangasinan-provenanced blades. I've not seen that applied in Ilokano or Kapampangan blades.

3) I believe the blade in question is a truncated-blade form of the Pangasinan blade known as "barang." In its truncated form, it looks "similar" to tulipas, but they have differing blade profiles and alignment.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Battara

Yeah I never bought the "katana" nomenclature for this.

Agree with you Jose. I think katana is a term only for Negrito blades with similar blade shape.

Regards,
Detlef

[JeffS]

Would this be Pangasinan or Pampangan as well? The curved spine and belly are quite different. Recently won but haven't received, photo from Ebay.

[wildwolberine]

Originally Posted by JeffS

Would this be Pangasinan or Pampangan as well? The curved spine and belly are quite different. Recently won but haven't received, photo from Ebay.

Nice one! Outbid me LOL 😂

[Battara]

Here is my piece. Thought it was Pampangan. Is it Pangansinan? Sun on the butt of the hilt - Katipunan group?

Brought back from a US service man who was in the PI back at the beginning of the 20th century.

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Battara

Here is my piece. Thought it was Pampangan. Is it Pangansinan? Sun on the butt of the hilt - Katipunan group?

Brought back from a US service man who was in the PI back at the beginning of the 20th century.

I believe this is Kapampangan, "tulipas." The blunt blades of the Northern/Central Luzon area (Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan) can be very confusing...I spent the whole pandemic figuring them out before realizing the subtle differences among the blunt bolos. Notice how, when put side by side, the Pangasinan blunt bolo (which I believe to be the angled-tip talunasan variant), edge profile curves up. But in tulipas, the edge profile goes down and stays down.

The spine profiles are also different. There's a curve in the Pangasinan talunasan's, following the edge profile's curve-up towards the tip. The tulipas just slopes down without curving back up.

The reason for these subtle differences is because they were 'cut' from different blades. Tulipas was from a Kapampangan narrow-tipped blade (whose name eludes me), while talunasan is from the Pangasinan "barang" blade.

Hope this clarifies things!

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by JeffS

Would this be Pangasinan or Pampangan as well? The curved spine and belly are quite different. Recently won but haven't received, photo from Ebay.

I believe this is from Rizal area that's one of their prominent blade profiles.