Bontoc Sword

VANDOO · 29th April 2011, 02:31 PM

Definitely philippine work some traditional and some not. The crouching man on the handle is traditional style but normally not one used for knife or sword handles it is usually a village guardian or such. The dragon or whatever at the scabbard tip is not traditional philippine reminds me of the tiki masks carved in the philippines for export.
The blade form is from a spear ,this form not used traditionally for swords or knife. This is made for sale to those who travel but is well made attractive and I have not seen one like it before. It is good to have a date and location of origin. I think this spear blade form is traditionaly from the Kayan tribe rather than Bontok. But could have been put together by Bontok craftsmen or in their area. either way a nice and unusual item especially if the price was right.

ThePepperSkull · 29th April 2011, 04:06 PM

the ones similar to this that I see being made today are usually lower quality in terms of modern-made N. Luzon tribal standards, and intended for tourist sale. (although I should add that from my experience, I find modern Igorot pieces made for locals to still be of very high quality, again in terms of N. Luzon tribal standards. the rattan weaving is still excellent, as is the formation of the socketed handles, and the blades are still relatively thick)

By looking at it, it seems to me this piece is better quality than those tourist ones I mentioned. Cosmetically at least. Maybe not as good as their functional counterparts, but better than modern tourist blades. It's interesting that in general, as recently as the 1970's blades throughout the philippines were made to a higher standard. Blades and fittings being made with more care, being thicker-spined, higher quality carvings, some examples from mindanao even being layered. (Though admittedly by "higher standard" I mean cosmetically rather than functionally as modern ethnographic pieces made with the intention for local use are still incredibly tough/durable for their intended uses... tourist pieces are not though.)

As a collector of mostly modern-made blades myself, pieces like this make me wonder when this shift occured and why.

Thanks for sharing this, Tatyana!

Tatyana Dianova · 29th April 2011, 08:19 PM

That's what I have supposed - thank you all for the exact information!

29th April 2011, 04:06 PM	#2
ThePepperSkull Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 338	the ones similar to this that I see being made today are usually lower quality in terms of modern-made N. Luzon tribal standards, and intended for tourist sale. (although I should add that from my experience, I find modern Igorot pieces made for locals to still be of very high quality, again in terms of N. Luzon tribal standards. the rattan weaving is still excellent, as is the formation of the socketed handles, and the blades are still relatively thick) By looking at it, it seems to me this piece is better quality than those tourist ones I mentioned. Cosmetically at least. Maybe not as good as their functional counterparts, but better than modern tourist blades. It's interesting that in general, as recently as the 1970's blades throughout the philippines were made to a higher standard. Blades and fittings being made with more care, being thicker-spined, higher quality carvings, some examples from mindanao even being layered. (Though admittedly by "higher standard" I mean cosmetically rather than functionally as modern ethnographic pieces made with the intention for local use are still incredibly tough/durable for their intended uses... tourist pieces are not though.) As a collector of mostly modern-made blades myself, pieces like this make me wonder when this shift occured and why. Thanks for sharing this, Tatyana! Last edited by ThePepperSkull; 30th April 2011 at 09:07 AM. Reason: corrected a spelling error

29th April 2011, 02:31 PM	#1
VANDOO (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OKLAHOMA, USA Posts: 3,138	Definitely philippine work some traditional and some not. The crouching man on the handle is traditional style but normally not one used for knife or sword handles it is usually a village guardian or such. The dragon or whatever at the scabbard tip is not traditional philippine reminds me of the tiki masks carved in the philippines for export. The blade form is from a spear ,this form not used traditionally for swords or knife. This is made for sale to those who travel but is well made attractive and I have not seen one like it before. It is good to have a date and location of origin. I think this spear blade form is traditionaly from the Kayan tribe rather than Bontok. But could have been put together by Bontok craftsmen or in their area. either way a nice and unusual item especially if the price was right.

29th April 2011, 08:19 PM	#3
Tatyana Dianova Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 737	That's what I have supposed - thank you all for the exact information!