Bolo Re-Hash

[A Senefelder]

Not my area of expertise at all but the money skull reminds me of some of the few Naga items i've owned over the years.

[Indianajones]

My suggestion would be; loose the monkeyskull (which is certainly added later to make the 'nukky old dusty sword' a bit more saleable).
The shape of the sword is a visayan type (Panay/Negros isld), though the scabbard and handle do tend me to believe its more from the mainland; Bicolregion or more south. As they are bit more unusual and different shaped than most I've seen.
Nice good old piece anyway. Like that curve-ending of the scabbard. All honest (except the skull); to my humble opinion quite an oldy; 1890- 1920's

Hope it helps. Greets

b.t.w that "doorknob" below the protuding wood band on the scabbard would once have been connected by means of a wood 'bridge' (hence the splinter off the band) under which a textile band would slip to wear the sword on the hips.

[Robert]

Hello Wouter, And thank you very much for your reply and thoughts on this bolo. I will probably remove the skull from the scabbard in the next few days as it seems to be the one thing that everyone is in agreement on. It will more than likely look better sitting on a shelf by itself than attached to the scabbard anyway. I am still hoping that others will share their ideas on this item as well. Again, my thanks to you for your help.


Regards,
Robert

[Sajen]

Hello Robert,

I still remember the original ebay auction and the first thread. I don't think that the seller attached the skull to the scabbard and the binding look old and worn so it is maybe from the original owner. I personally wouln'd remove the skull. Have a look under the binding if you can see patina under the binding. When not is the skull already long with the scabbard.

Regards,

Detlef

[Indianajones]

Robert, yes would also like to see someone else (knowledgable) to confirm it is from Bicol/south Luzon or another region.
I do believe it is a rare piece as it(IF from there) was populated not by much folk. Also the shape reminds me more of pirate pieces. And this is not romanticising as there was a body of piratefolk, I believed called 'Malolos', swarming around the islands originating from South Luzon.

"Someone" has attached the skull and the other threads around the scabbard to hold the two halfs together. Originally the two parts of the scabbard would have been hold together by some more (narrow)woven rattan bands. When you take a better look at your scabbard you will see the lighter strokes where the rattan bands would have been; I have gently marked the strokes with red dots along for indication -V-.

[Sajen]

Here the link from the first thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1147

[Robert]

Bangkaya, I am most sorry for not responding to your post earlier but for some reason what you wrote in response to my questions on this bolo DID NOT appear until this morning??? Why this happened I do not know. Would you by chance have any pictures of Waray swords that you could post for comparison as I do not believe that I have ever seen one identified as such. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge on this subject and I am looking forward to any other information that you might be able to offer.


Wouter, This is from Wikipedia "The Waray are an ethno-liguistic group of people geographically inhabiting in the islands of Samar, Leyte and Biliran - commonly referred to as the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The Waray, speak their native language called Waray-Waray. Waray people inhabit in the whole island of Samar and they are called Samareños while in the island of Leyte they are called Leyteños. In Leyte island, Waray people occupy only in the northern part of the island as it is divided by a mountain range in the middle of the island. Hence, the language division between the Waray-Waray speaking people in the northern part and the Cebuano speaking people in the southern part. In the island of Biliran, Waray-Waray speaking people lives on the eastern part of the island facing the island of Samar. They are commonly referred in Waray-Waray term as Biliranon. In the island of Ticao which belongs to the province of Masbate in the Bicol region, Waray-Waray speaking people lives in most parts of the island. They are commonly referred to as Ticaonon. However, the Ticaonon have their affinity with the Bicolano speaking people of Masbate island as it is their home province. Bicol and Waray-Waray languages have a lot of similarities in vocabularies as compared to Cebuano language." and if Bangkaya is correct in that it is of Waray origin it also confirms your suggestion that it is from the Bicol region. Though I cannot find any information on the 'Malolos' pirates I have found some on the Iranun pirates who seemed to enjoy raiding the coastal towns of Southern Luzon. I've always wanted a pirate sword.

Detlef, I have looked under the skull and binding as you have suggested and found that the patina is smooth with no change in color from the rest of the scabbard where the skull is attached. I too have always liked the skull but if it is not something that would be normally seen on this style of bolo and is as Bangkaya has suggested from a completely different Filipino ethnic group I agree that it should be removed and be displayed separately. Thank you all again for your help with this item and I look forward to any and all information that can be added to what has already been posted.


Regards,
Robert