Thanks for the response
Hi, kronckew & Robert,
Thanks for the kindness of your responses. I don't think my knife can be considered a bolo because it doesn't have the requisite weight forward characteristics, rather it balances back into the hilt for a quick point. To me it looks more like a Bowie blade with a Turkish clip. The horn hilt on my knife indicates a bit more age than the hilt you show kronckew and the shape is really different. Your piece appears to have been designed as a well crafted blade that would appeal to native and international buyers alike. I don't believe seven sided hilts, although not unusual in Indonesia, are too common in the Philippines and for that reason I suspect my knife was crafted for a particular native niche market. I'm inclined to agree with Robert's 2nd quarter of the 20th century age assessment (although the good condition might indicate a 3rd quarter 20th century date). I also agree with Robert that there may have been some damage to the edge next to the hilt. Not only do many Philippine clip point blades flair out at the hilt, the blade overhang on my piece seems a bit skimpy to prevent the hand from sliding up the blade during a thrust. My blade also appears to have some rather sloppy file work in that area as if someone made a hasty repair. To conclude, I believe this knife is unique to a single area in the Philippines and hope that the Philippine blade fans in this forum will be good enough to weigh in with their expertise.
Sincerely,
RobT
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