[Ian]

One of our fellow Forumites recently sold this unusual Filipino knife online. At first sight it seems to be Visayan plamingko, but on closer inspection it does not have the customary blind tang hilt of Visayan knives and swords. Rather it has an end plate with a peined full-length tang, indicating a Luzon connection. The blade is quite wide and has a flat cutting edge, while most Visayan plamingko have a curved cutting edge.

There are two main areas where Visayan and Luzon styles tend to merge--Batangas and Bicol. Given the wide blade on this one, my thought was that it may be Bicolano because wide-bladed knives from that region seem to be fairy common.

I've included a picture also of one of my Visayan plamingko to show the prominent choil or "finger notch" similar to the area seen on the knife above. This may be a feature adopted from certain Spanish knives. The tri-lobed flower carved on the end of the hilt is a common Visayan feature, but the shape of the pommel itself seems more Luzon in style.

An interesting cross-regional Filipino knife, and I hope Rick S. and other Philippine weapons enthusiasts will offer some more comments on this one.

Ian.