ILOILO PLAMINGKO
 

Hi friends,

Sharing my new treasure. I was told by the previous owner that this came from Iloilo (La Paz) and it's called a plamingko.

It was originally owned by her 'Apoy'- meaning, grandfather of her grandfather. She's around 30 years old....so this piece is more than 100 years old!

See the on the blade. Unfortunately, the tip of the blade was broken, and a skilled artisan here in the Philippines, accepted to have it 'whole' again and fully restored.

Questions:

1) is there a particular name for the pommel/s design?
2) is the blade plamingko the same name given to all parts of Iloilo/Panay?

Enjoy and be safe.

Yves

Note: I have attached a pic of a plamingko with a whole blade.

Hi Yves,

Yes, it's a Visayan plamingko and probably one of the oldest shown on this web site. There are a few more pictures in the archives, such as here. Your question about the name for this style of pommel is a good one as we have not defined its name here before. I seem to recall Zelbone referring to it several years ago as having a colloquial name of "chicken's head." It's a very common pommel used primarily on tools and knives for domestic purposes rather than weapons.

As far as I know, the term plamingko is used throughout Panay, and perhaps in other areas of the Visayas also. I have not heard these knives called anything else. Perhaps Xasterix can help further as he has studied Visayan blades and their names.

Regards,

Ian.