Insights on unusual kampilan?

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Oliver Pinchot

Thanks, Ian!
No, I'm afraid I'm not the owner, lucky or otherwise. But I am trying to learn more about the subtleties of Moro work. There was also a whalebone-hilted kampilan out there last week which was very interesting.
Other than the condition of the blade, what are the factors which (potentially) make it earlier than the hilt?

BTW, have you published that classification paper?

Oliver:

No, those thoughts were only posted on the old forum for discussion. I was hoping we would have more provenanced pieces before disseminating the ideas more widely. It is so hard to find examples of kampilan that have been reliably pinned down to a particular region or major tribal group.

As to the age of this blade, I was just going on its general appearance. Jose had thought that the style of decoration was perhaps mid-20th C, but the general condition of the blade seemed similar to some of my 19th C pieces. Nothing more specific than that.

Ian.