Simple but old Minasbad

[Robert]

Hello Detlef,
With the chisel ground blade I do not think that this would be classified as a minasbad either. Looks Visayan to me.

Best,
Robert

[Battara]

Robert I just saw this and I agree - not a minisbad, although it somewhat looks like one regarding the hilt. The blade does not fit the profile however and does look Visayan, even resembling those from Panay. The hilt could be a form of deity hilt, which also is Visayan (again possibly from Panay?).

[Sajen]

Thank you both for comment and have to agree with you. A further sign that it isn't a Bicol blade is that the tang isn't peened through the hilt.

Would like to read what Bangkaya think about this knife, maybe he will be able to pin down the origin.

Robert, do you have something similar in your collection?

Regards,

Detlef

[Robert]

Hello Detlef, Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you on this but again I have been under the weather for the last few days. However I do have one item in my collection that has a hilt with a quite similar carving. I believe that the scabbard on your item at one time had a curled toe "now broken" that would have looked similar to the one shown below. The main difference is that the blade on my example has a curved spine while on yours the spine looks straight. My example has a more rustic appearance to it while yours is more refined in its appearance. The monkey skull has been removed from the scabbard, I just haven't taken any new photos of this piece yet.

Best,
Robert

[VVV]

Nice catch again Detlef!
You seem to be both very active and lucky this month.

This bolo was on my watch list, too, but then "somehow" the auction was ended in advance.
Here are three old Visayan swords from my collection that I think are related.

Michael

PS The one without a D-guard is about 2/3 the size of the others.