Visayan "pinuti"

[Rick]

Originally Posted by tom hyle

Rick, I think the flat guard on yours may make it different (older? at least stylistically?) than the ones I, at least, think of, which have similar handles, though the dog head is less usual than a hoof shape, and I don't know whether the type crossquard I described can be said to characterize the form or not; it seems to be one of the newer evolutions of matulis, etc. What a sentence structure; hopefully someone can make sense of it; I must pry myself up and do an errand of helping.....

I suspect this one is SpanAm era but am not positive .
I believe I bought it from Oliver Perrin .
The guard is slightly dished with the concave side toward the point .

[tom hyle]

The doghead hilt on Rick's sword is sometimes seen on European machete blades. The usual attribution is PI. Thanks for the instructions on posting ebay links, Rick; one time when I'm less clouded I'll try to understand them; I may even succeed. For now, one such sword with a leather scabbard is ebay # 6527728238 (closed auction). I recently got an English Mole blade of very similar form mounted in a wooden boot type handle (usually considered Mexican; it's a Mexican style cowboy boot....), and in an identical sheath (including the suspension system) to the ebay one. Pancolonialism?........

[Rick]

It's not really a dog Tom .
It looks much more like the WWII era Elzie Segar cartoon character 'Jeep' from Popeye ; some of us older members might remember him .
But then if it is Span Am war era it could be more of a demon head of sorts , albeit a friendly one .

[tom hyle]

I see what you're saying; I was going by the ears and thinking the rest fell under the category of stylization. Looks more like a cat, I suppose (the side view looks a bit like the Penn State cougar), or Eugene the Jeep (I recall it at least sometimes having said name I suppose that makes the Jeep male, but who knows what it is? It isn't quite a baby.....). The ears, if anything, are bearlike, but could fall within cat or dog pretty easily, I think. Are there bears in PI? I'd expect so, but don't know. Interesting work on the ferule. Is the guard iron then?

[Rick]

Originally Posted by tom hyle

I see what you're saying; I was going by the ears and thinking the rest fell under the category of stylization. Looks more like a cat, I suppose (the side view looks a bit like the Penn State cougar), or Eugene the Jeep (I recall it at least sometimes having said name I suppose that makes the Jeep male, but who knows what it is? It isn't quite a baby.....). The ears, if anything, are bearlike, but could fall within cat or dog pretty easily, I think. Are there bears in PI? I'd expect so, but don't know. Interesting work on the ferule. Is the guard iron then?

Hi Tom , after giving the spine of the blade a close look with a strong magnifying glass I've come to the conclusion that there is a center core with cheeks of steel laminated on either side of the blade . This is most evident before the clip begins . So this would be a san mai type of construction then ?
I believe the guard is made from the same material as the cheeks ; I drew a file across a small part of the edge of the guard .

[Ian]

Originally Posted by tom hyle

The doghead hilt on Rick's sword is sometimes seen on European machete blades. The usual attribution is PI. ... For now, one such sword with a leather scabbard is ebay # 6527728238 (closed auction). I recently got an English Mole blade of very similar form mounted in a wooden boot type handle (usually considered Mexican; it's a Mexican style cowboy boot....), and in an identical sheath (including the suspension system) to the ebay one. Pancolonialism?........

Tom:

I think those Mole swords with the Caribbean treatment almost always come from the West Indies. The one that you list has a scabbard marked Trinidad BWI (British West Indies) -- mostly WWII vintage I think. Quite common to see these with carved native heads on the hilts, and a wire wrap to the lower area of the hilt is common too.

Ian.

[tom hyle]

I agree (the one on ebay is wrapped in string, but wire is more common, and is what is on my boot sword, and is also common on N American both Indian and rural/low-caste work, too.), but what I find interesting is the form of the head; it is not one I see on ID'd Caribean stuff, but usually as PI.....do you think this is basically a matter of common mis-ID, and the type is Caribean? The head on Rick's is a bit different, but mainly in the nose, and seems to fit the category, while the blade, etc. are clearly PI....coincidence?