KAMPILAN LUMAD

[tanaruz]

Hi,

A gift from my father on my promotion! ha ha

The seller (from Lanao-Mindanao), claims it to be a lumad blade (Higaonon Tribe, Bukidnon).

The hilt's design, as I look at it, looks more like an open-jawed naga/serpent, rather than the designs on my other kampilans(moro) which has a distinct 'crocodile open-jawed' profile.

Any input/s opinion/s appreciated.

Enjoy,

Yves

Notes: 1) the hilt is carved from carabao horn.
2) there's a bronze filling along the blade (is this some sort of a talisman or something).
3) with black beads on the hand guard
4) old brass bells attached

[SanibelSwassa]

Great piece! The brass inlay could be where they “trapped a spirit” in the blade, be a talisman, or just decorative. I don’t know enough about the Lumad to help in the correct Id on that point. The hilt is very interesting. Does it have a Staple in the cross guard? Also the scabbard looks like it could have had coins placed in the row of holes in the center?? You might want to gently etch the blade to see if there is a clear pattern in the steel.

Great gift from your dad!!! Congratulations!!

[tanaruz]

Originally Posted by SanibelSwassa

Great piece! The brass inlay could be where they “trapped a spirit” in the blade, be a talisman, or just decorative. I don’t know enough about the Lumad to help in the correct Id on that point. The hilt is very interesting. Does it have a Staple in the cross guard? Also the scabbard looks like it could have had coins placed in the row of holes in the center?? You might want to gently etch the blade to see if there is a clear pattern in the steel.

Great gift from your dad!!! Congratulations!!

Hello. Thank you very much for your congratulatory note!

1) no, it does not have a staple on the cross guard. Instead, on the cross-guard, there's a brass/copper wire (quite thick) that holds the hilt and the blade in place (cross type- upper left to lower right, then lower left to upper right). The blade is somewhat 'wedged' into the wooden handguard.

2) interesting though, is that when I lightly cleaned the blade- there are talismatic inlaid inscriptions (right side of the blade: the first 6 inches from the hilt/cross-guard, then the last 8 inches from the tip of the blade). you can see the very faint inscriptions on one of the pictures (the one showing the hole with bronze). There are no apparent talismatic inscriptions on the left side of the blade.

3) quite a heavy piece with an over-all length of 44 inches with a 33.4-inch blade.

Kind regards

Yves

Note: I will try to picture the inscriptions tomorrow morning (it's night time now in manila) and share them with you.

[Sajen]

Very interesting example!

[tanaruz]

Hi all,

Forgot one important thing.

Note that there is as Islamic prayer beads (misbaha/tasbih/ sibha) entwined/attached to the hilt-hand guard. Here's an additional picture of the kampilan. The picture where the inscriptions are located is a bit grainy(not so clear), but it is there.

We have around 4 moro kampilans in our collection- but this one is quite heavy!

Enjoy

Yves