Interesting Lumad sword

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Federico

Ive seen a couple other swords similar to this one, which were bought from Maranao, so you arent the only person who has encountered this phenomena. I wonder why a lumad sword would first be sold to a Maranao middleman and then to a Christian Filipino. Apparantly must be a common practice.

Federico:

The answer is simply based on how the local market works. Over the years, the market has been much stronger for Moro weapons than Lumad weapons. Those who bring weapons to the dealers in Davao City and other "disposal" points have been Muslims dealing in Moro weapons. Now, if I have a Lumad sword and want to get a good deal, but have no good contacts to sell it, then I'll sell it to the guy who has those connections (or maybe he takes it on commission). So the Moro seller becomes an agent for other types of swords, which suits his purpose also when the supply of Moro weapons starts to dry up.

Win-win situation all round.

I have sat in antique shops in Manila and watched Muslims from Mindanao come by and try to sell a variety of wares from Mindanao to the Manila dealers. Often included in their offerings are T'boli, Bagobo and Kaolu items. The seller knows what he has, and if confronted with a direct statement, such as, "That's a Bagobo knife," will readily acknowledge the true origin of the piece. Otherwise he will try to lump them all as "Moro" because he will get a better price that way. Caveat emptor!

[Federico]

Originally Posted by Ian

Federico:

The answer is simply based on how the local market works. Over the years, the market has been much stronger for Moro weapons than Lumad weapons. Those who bring weapons to the dealers in Davao City and other "disposal" points have been Muslims dealing in Moro weapons. Now, if I have a Lumad sword and want to get a good deal, but have no good contacts to sell it, then I'll sell it to the guy who has those connections (or maybe he takes it on commission). So the Moro seller becomes an agent for other types of swords, which suits his purpose also when the supply of Moro weapons starts to dry up.

Win-win situation all round.

I have sat in antique shops in Manila and watched Muslims from Mindanao come by and try to sell a variety of wares from Mindanao to the Manila dealers. Often included in their offerings are T'boli, Bagobo and Kaolu items. The seller knows what he has, and if confronted with a direct statement, such as, "That's a Bagobo knife," will readily acknowledge the true origin of the piece. Otherwise he will try to lump them all as "Moro" because he will get a better price that way. Caveat emptor!

Thanks for the details, one of these days Im gonna have to make it to Moroland, sounds like a fascinating market.

[Conogre]

The disemination of knowledge often increases both understanding and appreciation for previously little known weapons, and as the information becomes more wide spread the "value" often increases accordingly.
I've been lucky in the past by taking chances on pieces that appeared to have age and be genuine while having absolutely no actual knowledge on what I was buying/bidding on at the time while getting burned very infrequently.....my Bagobo sword, for instance, was purchased when they were still generally thought to be "recently manufactured replicas of Moro pieces" for $35.00.
Ian, in particular, has probably contributed as much or more information about Lumad swords and knives than anyone I can think of, and I for one have expressed my personal gratitude to him for sharing his wealth of information, even though it probably has had an inflationary unintended result, but even that is a double edged sword (no pun intended)
While we may carp occasionally about the now high prices, I can't, in all honesty, begrudge the people who made, owned and used these magnificent pieces sharing in their true worth as opposed to getting robbed as happened so often in the past, with only dealers making any profit.
Mike