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Originally Posted by VVV
If you are confident that it's not Bagobo - could it be any other neighbouring tribe or is Philippines out of the question according to your experience?
Michael
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Michael:
There are many tribal groups in the Philippines so it is very difficult to say that an origin in the Philippines is out of the question. I can say that I have not seen this style of sword/scabbard/decoration attributed to any of the major Lumad groups -- Bagobo, T'boli, Mandaya, Manobo, Kaolu, B'laan -- but there are other smaller groups and information on their weapons is almost nonexistent. I don't think your bolo fits any well known examples from these Lumad groups.
There are some features of your sword that are unusual for a Philippines origin.
The blade decorations, extending the full length with geometric designs and dots, are the most troubling to place in the Philippines. While there are elements of these designs seen in Moro work, the particular designs on your blade do not strike me as Moro. They lack the flowing lines and vegetal influences typical of Moro okir designs. Certainly, there are other Moro designs that are more angular (as seen in their textiles -- see Hamilton: From the Rainbow's Varied Hue), but not quite like the ones on your blade.
Moving further north to the Visayas and Luzon -- again, the blade decoration seems very uncharacteristic.
The down turned hilt is also a challenge to place in the Philippines as well as the carved pommel (I'm assuming this is a blind tang hilt). While there are some notable examples of down turned hilts (some Yakan hilts come to mind) most Philippine hilts are straight or even uptilted (e.g., kampilan). The carved pommel on your example and the one on ibeam's klewang remind me of a simple depiction of the open-mouthed
lasara, as seen on Nias swords. The thin disk guard is unusual, but at the same time could be consistent with the Visayas or even Luzon. The same might be said of the brass ferrule.
The scabbard, at first glance, looks like something from the Visayas, but then it does not on closer inspection -- the carved decorations are atypical and there is no drilled "hanger" for suspension (although not all Visayan scabbards have a wooden block with a hole through it). The scabbard also does not match any that I know from Luzon.
In short, if this is a Philippine sword it probably comes from a small group in an obscure area, or is a rare variant from one of the better known groups. Perhaps some of our experienced Filipino collectors can provide more help.
Ian.