[Battara]

Greetings folks,

I got this little dagger off of eBay. It is 14 inches overall. The blade is wavy and made from a file (see pics).

Now the hilt is made of horn with silver inlays and mounts. 3 silver stars on each side and a single star on front and back. The line sections were missing but 3 nail holes in each section, so I restored these and made silver nails as well.

Originally the blade was covered in red rust, the silver mounts tarnished black, and the horn was covered in a film of dirt and something else.

I think this is might be a 1st Republic dagger and perhaps Ilokano (if not it could be Visayan, but I lean towards Ilokano).

I am wondering if this might be an in-between period, between the exposure of the Katipunan and the creation of the 1st Philippine Republic at Malolos under Aguinaldo. The triangle sun face and 3 stars is missing, but the 3 stars for the 3 island groups is present.

Any thoughts would be helpful.