Hello Barry, Thank you very much for your kind words on these. Yes, I would agree that this work was definately done on Luzon and remember the photo of the carver at his workbench that I believe Jose posted. These are very large and impressive pieces and I was shocked when they finally showed up today. I had made the deal on these Monday relying solely on the above photos that the seller provided and waiting for them to arrive was nerve wracking. My only disappointment was the plating on the blades. Can anyone identify what the object being held in the hands are. They look like a staff of some sort with leaves protruding from the end.
After these are restored I am actually thinking of having new leather sheaths (tooled in a style appropriate to their age) made for them as finding old originals would be pretty much an impossible task.
Best,
Robert