Knife with a Spanish Influence?

[Ian]

Jim, you are spot on with the issues of trade and interconnectedness among the various Spanish colonies. There are clear cross-overs in style between Spanish knives in Mexico, broader Latin America, and the Philippines. The usefulness of a blade style in one place translates to the use of a similar style elsewhere, but not always. For example, some espada ancha styles seem to have been localized in the New World and are rarely, if ever, found in the Philippines.

As I mentioned above, sometimes the best we can do is designate an item as "Spanish Colonial."

One fact that is sometimes overlooked is that not just trade was important in the exchanges between Spanish colonies. There was a political element also. Several of the Spanish Governors of the Philippines came from established aristocratic families in Mexico.

Regards, Ian

[Jim McDougall]

Thanks Ian, and well noted on the political context. The Philippines were the far reaches of the 'Spanish Main' which did not simply vanish after the so called 'golden age of piracy' in the early 1700s. Actually piracy continued in many theaters in accord with Spanish trade vessels, in these cases returning to America's west coast in regions also controlled by Spain.

Since the Philippines was one of the central entrepots for trade in proximity to the SE Asian and Chinese spheres, it neatly explains the volumes of trade items and influences that filtered into these contexts.

While the Philippines had of course prominent Spanish influence, there were of course prevalent influences from the profound Muslim populations, known to the Spaniards naturally as Moro's. The melding of all these influences through the commerce in the Philippine archipelagos as well as cross diffusion, often renders finite identification of items without sound provenance difficult, if not sometimes impossible.

While the espada ancha form did remain essentially one which maintained in the frontier regions of New Spain, which included California, the Spanish southwest and what is now Mexico (in the northern frontiers mostly)....there is some degree of evidence of some influences with hilt style.

This example shown reveals compellingly similar construction to 'espada ancha' hilts, though the blade is purely Filipino. I have little knowledge in the Filipino sphere, but from posts here, but I believe Visayan provenance was suggested. Clearly it is reasonably modern, but the basic espada ancha form prevailed in Mexican regions into 20th c. so those same influences long standing there surely reached Spanish holdings in the Philippines.

With the machete style swords we once termed 'Berber sabers', now known to have acquired that designation through apparent use in the 'Rif wars' in Morocco in 1920s (Tirri)....we have found their center of provenance was typically in Cuba. Similar examples were known through the Spanish colonial regions from the Gulf to Vera Cruz as well as Caribbean locations, particularly the Dominican Republic.
Examples of these however have been known with distinct Filipino character in hilt design and decoration, again suggesting the vast diffusion of certain weapon forms via distinct trade networks.

I entirely agree that Spanish colonial is likely the best serving term, and further qualifying designation suggested accordingly.

These areas of study are totally fascinating, and quite honestly I need to get up to speed with the Filipino areas. I totally admire the knowledge you and many others who contribute here possess!

[Jim McDougall]

I wanted to add an example of European influences, likely via forms of small sword which appear to have entered Indonesian spheres in the colonial period end of 18th c. into early 19th. with the Dutch.
This Javanese pedang suduk (tusuk) shows noticeable European styling, and the faces on scabbard and pommel cap reflect the lion face (of Orange) in Dutch heraldic symbolism.
The Dutch used native mercenaries from several locations, but most likely in this case Madura.

Most notable here with regard to the knife being discussed is the hilt shape, which along with the face symbolism suggests European influence.

This of course brings the question, was the knife itself fashioned in the Philippines, and diffuse to California, or otherwise? A conundrum indeed.

Just added a Dutch hunting hanger c. 1750. Note the hilt shape (though faceted). In the example the wood scabbard is lacquered in yellow ochre, which reflects the strong oriental influences in small sword decoration in these times known as 'Tonquinese'. The yellow ochre seems to have been a color notable in Chinese decoration.
Further elements in the conundrum!