My first Kampilan!!!

[kai]

Hello Flavio,

Nice laminated blade! Could you please post a pic of the blade tip?

Any idea on the age? because even if the patina makes me think of at least a piece of early XX century I have seen before this white decoration among carvings but on scabbards of kris that are post WWII (ganga not dived)

I'd have no qualms to assign it to the turn of the century at least, likely 2nd half of 19th century. The carving work is good but not top notch - collected during the Span.-Am. war and following colonial battles may be a good guess.

Lime paste seems to be an old way to enhance the carving work - I'll try to post pics of an example which I'd place mid-19th c. at least. (It seems plausible to assume that this might have been the starting point for developing inlay of bone/ivory/MOP later on.)

The slender end of the pommel seems to have been broken severa times with the tip missing for already a long time. Coins seem to have been used indiscriminately - you could utilize late 19th c. US coins for restoration.

BTW, the first kris with non-separate gangya seem to show up in late 19th c. and to become dominant about 1930.

Regards,
Kai