Thanks for the feedback so far. While I can see why you would think it could possibly be Chinese and certainly there has been a long Chinese presence in the Philippines for a very long time I don't think this is a Chinese face or a Chinese dragon. The horn comes across very dark in the pictures so I took a few more pictures outside to hopefully highlight the details a bit better.
Barry, I think you hit the nail on the head about the headdress and clothing being a distinguishing characteristic. If you notice from the side view, the hat which covers the forehead, goes all the way down past the shoulders. So quite a large and elaborate headdress. It was suggested to me that this style of headdress was found on religious persons of the late medieval time period. Someone else also noticed the silver chain going around the hat. Some of it is gone but imagine that going all the way around the hilt. Does this represent a crown? The silver pommel cap seems to fit with the carving if the headdress to suggest maybe a crown so this is why I commented it may be a royal or religious figure. I don't recall Chinese headgear of this form at all and I definitely don't recall any images of Buddha with a hat. The face just looks plump to me but not necessarily Asian.
The creature at the bottom of the handle is intriguing. Why is it there? It doesn't look like a Chinese dragon to my eyes. I have seen a dragon depicted in a few Filipino pieces and they look very much like the Chinese ones. Look at the side view of the creature. Look at how the mouth is carved as it is swallowing the handle. The shape of the mouth looks very snake like to me. But the eyes and string brow don't. That area looks more gargoyle or European in style. Is this suppose to represent a Naga done in enough European style that the owner wouldn't know? The symbolism of the 2 figures is what intrigues me. What do they represent.
As far as age I have hypothesized it is quite old. I think 18th century. I have handled many Luzon and other Filipino pieces over the years. The very finely carved ones still have texture to the grip and while they have worn spots there isn't a ton of wear. This grip has been handled enough that the horn has a sheen to it and has been polished quite smooth. That's something you can only really get from handling it and seeing it in person. Ron, Jose and Charles have all handled it and I would be interested in their opinion to age as well as anything else they have determined about this piece. I think turn of the 19/20th century is much too recent.
Here are hopefully better pictures to help along the discussion.
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