A mystery Philippine blade.....

[roshan]

Hi, my friend asked me to upload this image to see if I could find out any information on the weapon... I tried looking through all the Philippine blades on Oriental Arms and a couple of other sites but did not find anything like it. My friend knows nothing about the blade except that the person he purchased it from claimed it had originally come from Mindanao.

Any comments would be appreciated!

[VANDOO]

THIS IS A NICE EXAMPLE OF WHAT I REFER TO AS A MONSTER HEAD BOLO IT IS NOT A MORO PIECE BUT PROBABLY FROM THE VISAYAN GROUP OF ISLANDS IN THE PHILIPPINES. THE HANDLE COULD REPRESENT A CROCODILE OR A DRAGON OR SOME OTHER MYTHILOGICAL BEAST. YOU CAN SEARCH IN THE OLD FORUM ARCHIVES UNDER BOLO AS THERE WERE SOME GOOD DISCUSSIONS ON BOLO,S THERE IN THE PAST.

[Battara]

I would also suggest that this is post WWII

[RSWORD]

I wouldn't rule out WWII period on this one. It is of much better quality than the later ones which usually have more cartoonish hilt, less detailed carving in scabbard, lower quality blade, less patina, etc. Jose, have a 2nd look at this one.

[Battara]

Perhaps, though Rick you must be referring to the "tourist" stuff of later. Some post WWII stuff were still had some quality. There was tourist stuff during this period too.......

[RSWORD]

You make a good point Jose. I think it was Aristotle that once said, "All things of quality are quality regardless of date made. Some items made for tourist market are of quality. Therefore, not all items made for tourist market are not quality and not all items of low quality are of a late date." Or something like that. The real point I was trying to make was this item seemd to be of good quality and I felt it could date as early as the 1940's.

[Battara]

Certainly no earlier........

[VANDOO]

I HAVE SOME BOLOS SIMULAR TO THIS ONE THE QUALITY VARIES AS IT DOES WITH MOST PHILIPPINE KNIFE FORMS. SOME LIKE THIS EXAMPLE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN MADE IN A SHOP BY SOMEONE WHO HAD THE EQUIPMENT AND KNOWLEGE TO TURN OUT A WELL MADE, PROFESIONALY FINISHED KNIFE AND GOOD MATERIALS WERE USED THRU-OUT.
SOME EXAMPLES ARE OFTEN FOUND USING SUBSTANDARD TECKNIQUES AND MATERIALS WITH VARYING LEVELS OF KNIFEMAKEING ABILITY.
THESE SORTS OF KNIVES ARE NOT TO BE DISDAINED EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE OFTEN POORLY MADE IN COMPARISON WITH THOSE MADE BY A PROFESSIONAL. I CONSIDER THEM AS HOME MADE KNIVES OR WHAT IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS VILLAGE MADE KNIVES. STRANGELY OVER THE YEARS I HAVE SEEN MORE OF THE PROFESIONALY MADE WEAPONS FOR SALE THAN THOSE COBBLED TOGETHER FROM WHATEVER WAS AT HAND BY SOMEONE WITH LIMITED EQUIPMENT AND KNOWLEGE. I SUSPECT IT IS BECAUSE A FORIGNER BUYING A SOUVINEER OR PICKING UP ONE FROM A BATTLEFIELD ALWAYS WENT FOR THE BETTER PROFESIONALY MADE ITEMS INSTEAD OF THE HOME MADE UNLESS THAT WAS ALL THAT WAS AVAILABLE.

I HAVE A FEW EXAMPLES THAT I WOULD DATE AS BEING COLLECTED IN THE MID TO LATE 1930'S. I BASE THIS ON THE FACT THAT THE COLLECTOR WAS IN THE PHILIPPINES IN THOSE YEARS AND BROUGHT BACK MOST OF HIS ITEMS THEN. THEY PROBABLY STILL MAKE MONSTER HEAD BOLO'S TODAY BUT I PERSONALLY HAVEN'T SEEN ONE OF GOOD QUALITY THAT WAS MADE RECENTLY AND MOST DO SEEM TO BE FROM PRE AND POST WW2 FOR AN APPROXIMATE GUESS FROM 1935 TO 1955. JUST A GUESS AS TO THE DATES

I ALSO DON'T KNOW WHERE MOST OF THEM WERE MADE, I HAD THOUGHT OF PANAY IS. AS IT KEPT COMING UP IN RELATION TO A LOT OF PIECES I HAVE SEEN. BUT I HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT THERE WAS NOT A CENTER FOR MAKING WEAPONS ON PANAY BY A MEMBER WITH FAMILY THERE SO I GUESS PERHAPS THEY WERE ALL MADE ON LUZON?? PERHAPS SOMEONE WILL KNOW WHERE THE WEAPON MAKEING CENTERS FOR NON MORO WEAPONS ARE LOCATED. ALL I KNOW IS BUTTERFLY KNIVES ARE MOSTLY FROM LUZON AND ALL THE MORO SWORDS AND TIBOLI/ BAGOBO WEAPONS ARE FROM MINDINAO.
WHERE EVER THEY WERE MADE I LIKE THEM A LOT

[tom hyle]

Nice sword. What is the handguard made of (horn? or metal?). Is the unsharpened ricasoe at the base of the blade thicker at the front edge than at the back edge? Note the hilt/pommel is essentially a Moro kampilan handle shape, but backwards; interesting; Visayan-hilted kris sundang I've seen are usually or always(?) hilted "backwards" compared to Moro kris sundang.
Not a Moro piece, mind you; but there are resemblances; the Visayan Sea is the next thing North of Mindinao.
The one-sided ("chisel") bevel is of right-handed configuration. The blalde probably has a fairly narrow hardened edge on a softer body, much like a Japanese sword.
Why is the tip of the sheath a different colour? There was probably once a rawhide or horn(?) covering over the smooth upper part of the sheath, which probably provided a tab to prevent the sword from sliding down out of a belt.

[Battara]

This is indeed a Visayan piece.....