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Originally Posted by Ian
Hi Carlos:
Thanks for showing this interesting knife. One might be forgiven for thinking this is a Moro knife with the wavy blade and a stylized kakatua pommel on the hilt. However, as you probably recognized, it is a knife from the Ilocano people of northern Luzon. The blade with its full length tang tells the story. There is a small ricasso with two incised lines running across the blade; the point of the blade resembles a small dagger and is somewhat longer than on Moro gunong; and the terminal luk of the blade is on the side corresponding to the back of the hilt (opposite to the orientation found on Moro kris). All of these features are consistent with wavy-bladed Ilocano knives. The presence of brass on the knife (ferrule and guard) and the scabbard (throat and chape) is also common for Ilocano pieces. The one glaring anomaly is the pommel. This is reminiscent of second half of the 20th C style of kakatua seen on pieces coming from the Lake Lanao region of Mindanao (i.e., from the Maranao people). How it ended up on an Ilocano piece is open to conjecture--maybe it is an Ilocano copy.
A very unusual knife. Thanks for showing it to us.
Ian.
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Hullo sir Ian, I'd beg to differ and postulate instead that this dagger comes from Cavite =) The Laoag, Ilocos Norte wavy daggers have a different guard (knobby-circular on both ends). Additionally, the Ilocos Norte wavy daggers have leather scabbards that don't have metal accents on the throat and tip. The guard style and scabbard of this piece is consistent with Cavite-provenanced blades.