Advice for Fist of Ilokano Bolo

[Ian]

Jose and I have been talking about this hilt offline for a few days. The sword is a very nice example of Ilokano bladesmithing and the hilt is clearly first rate too. As far as rings on the finger of these fist hilts, I have only seen them on the fourth finger ("ring finger"), but there is probably no good reason why they should not appear on other fingers.

Attached is a picture of one of mine that has aluminum inlays (unfortunately not silver) and is probably mid- to late- 20th C in manufacture. A ring with an inset stone is visible. It too appears to be Ilokano in origin. I don't have a picture of the blade at this time, but IIRC it also had a double-clipped appearance (like Jose's).

Interesting to note that there are left- and right-handed versions of these hilts. I have no idea what the significance of that may be.

Ian.