Sword for ID, Philippines??
 

This sword just finished in Ebay, 31" overall, blade looks to be full at 26" and no markings. Full guard with wood handle, has split in handle. Pummel has a crack, looks to be poured, old. When I saw I thought in Philippines, is possible?
Best regards
Carlos

http://cgi.ebay.es/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=370138741724

Hello Carlos,
Yes, I would say that this is from the Philippines. Looks to possible be from the late 19th to early 20th century and I would guess to be of Ilokano origin. I'm sure that when Jose sees this he can give you a more accurate time line and origin on this piece. I was watching this also and if it hadn't come up right after Christmas I would have been bidding on it too. :D I am very happy to see that someone from this forum acquired it and posted it for comments. A nice sword or very long knife showing strong Spanish influence. Again this piece shows the offset grip that seems common to these pieces. As far as the crack in the grip is concerned, that is just one of the things that comes with age a lot of times and as far as I'm concerned doesn't distract from the overall appearance. Nice find and congratulations.

Robert

Thanks!!
 

Thanks Robert fot your comments, when arrived the sword I´ll post more pictures !!
Thanks
Carlos

Great!! I'm looking forward to seeing it after cleaning and to seeing more detailed pictures of the hilt in particular. :D When it arrives please post details on exact blade length, width and thickness. Thank you.

Robert

The hilt looks like it could from Luzon but need to see the butt to be sure. The thing that throws me is the length of the blade. IT is longer than usual for most Luzon pieces.

Hello Jose,
The blade length is one of the things I find interesting about this. I only have two in my collection with a total length of 30 inches or over. What seems very odd to me is the offset hilt with such a small guard and this length of blade. I would have thought that this would have had a D-guard or some other form of extended guard instead of the simple cross guard that it has. I tried cleaning up one of the pictures and to me it looks like I can possible see where the tang could be through the hilt. Or it might just be my eye playing a trick on me. :confused:


Robert

I have it
 

Two days ago I received the sword. strong and well made, I´mvery happy!!

Hi Carlos, Nice sword and with a great length. Could you post a picture that shows the end of the hilt? It would help alot in trying to identify where this was made. Also can you tell me if the cross guard and front fitting are one piece, and if they are, are they cast to the blade? Thanks you.

Robert

more pictures...
 

There are more pictures from the pommel. The guard and the top of handle are the same piece.

What is the metal ???? :confused:

Aluminum ?

That's what I'm starting to wonder too. In the other pictures I just assumed the light color was either caused by the flash or that the fittings might be white brass. With the roughness of the casting I wondering if this it could have been a quick field repair to make the sword serviceable again as quickly as possible. I would also like to know when aluminium first became available and started being used to any great extent in the Philippines, before after or during WWII? Again just thinking out loud, with the roughness of the castings but what looks to me to be a nice blade I don't see this as being a tourist item. BWDIK Lets see what the experts have to say about it.

Robert

I would guess most of the aluminum available to village masters must have come from downed planes. WWII or later, therefore.

maybe aluminum
 

I think is a repair with aluminum, but not a tourist item, the blade seems good and with use, like the horn handle.
Carlos