Mandaya Spearheads

[Battara]

Greetings. Just got these Mandaya spearheads from Oriental-Arms. These are two slightly different pieces. One has a trapazoidal tip and bottom and 15.5 inches. The other is 14.5 inches and tapers to the tip and is rounded on the bottom. Both do not have any laminations, but they do have central sections that have "X"s in the middle.

Here are the pictures with one color painted picture of a Mandaya with a similar spear in hand.

Enjoy!

[tom hyle]

Very nice & interesting. Can anyone elucidate the difference between Moro, Lumad, and Visayan spear blades? The more rounded of these two particularly resembles Moro blades? Are the unpanelled ones with rhomboid bolsters Visayan?

[Sajen]

Very nice spearheads. :) Every time when I see these spearheads as well Moro spearheads I wonder how it's possible to fix them secure with it's short tang to this long shafts. :confused:

Regards,

Detlef

[Maurice]

I was watching those too.
Thank you for posting it with the image of the mandaya warrior.

I had seen the spearheads and also I have the image of the warrior on my computer. But I didn't connected them together so didn't notice those were the same spearheads as on the image.
Great to have a reference...

Maurice

[David]

Every time when I see these spearheads as well Moro spearheads I wonder how it's possible to fix them secure with it's short tang to this long shafts. :confused:
Detlef, perhaps this thread will give you some ideas....
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12397&highlight=moro+spear

[Sajen]

Detlef, perhaps this thread will give you some ideas....
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12397&highlight=moro+spear

Thank you, seems I have missed this thread! :)

[Rick]

Then we have the socketed variety of Mandaya spear head .... ;) :confused:

These two have innumerable forged layers .

[Battara]

Thank you folks - truly rare finds indeed! (I thought of you Rick and your 2 pieces).

Well the Mandaya is one of the lumad tribes, with some others being like the Bagobo, T'boli, Manobo, etc.

One thing to notice is that most Mandaya spearheads have that trapazoidal tip and bottom with the "X"s in the middle. Moro spearheads (except the wavy ones) seem to taper with rounded bottoms and do not have "engraved" middle sections.

I only wish that they had the sockets like Rick's (or were on shafts). STill happy with these, however.

[Rick]

Yours are the only other ones i've seen with the 'flower' pattern in the panel, Jose .

You really don't see these very often; in 15 years I've only seen yours and Bill's .

I think with the Mandaya spear head the really distinguishing feature is the shape of the point .

[Battara]

Hmmmmm.......you may have a point (like the one on top of my head :D ). I realize I made an assumption of the flower "X"s being part of the Mandaya middle panel. Yet there are so few examples of these. I also noticed that one of your's Rick does not have such a panel.

I agree then that the tip and bottom are signs of Mandaya manufacture.

[Rick]

Yep, the only thing that confuses me are the integral sockets on my examples . :confused:

Are any spears from Mindanao tribes socketed as these are ??

[Bill M]

Here is mine

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7941&highlight=mandaya+spear

[Battara]

Thanks Bill and Rick for posting yours.

The problem is that there are so few pictures or examples around (so far) and thus hard to say what kind of socket/sleeve/ferrule was common for these.

[Rick]

I know, that's what's driving me nuts about my pair . :eek:
The blades are very finely pattern welded; the sockets are plain steel forge welded to the blades .

[Battara]

Welded to the blades!?! :eek:

Never heard of that for Philippines............ :confused:

[Rick]

Well, I don't know Jose; they came out of the Bandholtz Collection that was displayed at the Pan American Exposition ... :shrug:

A mystery . :confused:

[Battara]

True a mystery, but a great provenance.............

[tom hyle]

The sockets are highly unusual to my experience of oceanic SEAsian spears. It is possible they are a foreign influence, or is it possible these were made in India (or?) for the Mindinao market?