A Nice Small Punal

[Ian]

Guys,


Let's remember that WWII ended 75 years ago, and 1970 was 50 years ago! Some of these post-WWII knives will look quite old--and they do. Much of my dating of gunong comes from observations and discussions with dealers during my work trips to the Philippines in the 1990s and early 2000s.


Ian

[Sajen]

I really doubt that end of 20th century gunongs are worked with laminated blades and have a handle from ivory since they are worked for tourists.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Ian

Let's remember that WWII ended 75 years ago, and 1970 was 50 years ago! Some of these post-WWII knives will look quite old--and they do. Much of my dating of gunong comes from observations and discussions with dealers during my work trips to the Philippines in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Hi Ian,

WWII area and even 1970 isn't end of the 20th century, see my statement above, I really doubt that tourist gunongs have laminated blades and ivory was also at end of the 20th century an expensive material.

Regards,
Detlef

[David R]

Is that grip Ivory,or is it possibly "shell".

[Ian]

Hi Detlef,

In earlier discussion I used "late 20th C" to mean the last quarter of the 20th C (1975–2000).

As you know, dating Filipino pieces is difficult. It is hard to know how long it takes Moro items to filter into the commercial stream of the Philippines. Thirty or forty years ago, it took longer for Moro crafts to be traded into the wider marketplace, and the appearance of such items in Manila or Makati occurred some time after their manufacture. Based on discussions with Manila merchants in the 1990s and later, that delay shortened after National Government/Bangsa-Moro conflicts and tensions started to ease. In the last 10–20 years it has become much more common to see recently made Moro crafts available in Manila and other major centers.

Again, based on my discussions with Manila merchants, the types of gunong shown in the original post of this thread are likely of relatively recent manufacture. Those with a prominent central bulge to the grip, stacked horn/plastic/metal/bone elements, and horn (± metal inserts/pins) guards were stated to have been made from about the 1970s, and increasingly since the 1990s. It is possible that these informants may have been off by a decade or so, but some of them had been trading since the 1950s or 1960s, and knew what they were talking about. Based on the information I obtained, these multimedia examples are almost certainly post–1950 and most likely post-1960. [I say "almost" because hearsay is never absolute.]

Detlef, you are perfectly entitled to believe these types of gunong are older and come from the 1930s or 1940s. However, I have found no evidence to support such an earlier date.

Regards,

Ian

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Ian

In earlier discussion I used "late 20th C" to mean the last quarter of the 20th C (1975–2000).

As you know, dating Filipino pieces is difficult. It is hard to know how long it takes Moro items to filter into the commercial stream of the Philippines. Thirty or forty years ago, it took longer for Moro crafts to be traded into the wider marketplace, and the appearance of such items in Manila or Makati occurred some time after their manufacture. Based on discussions with Manila merchants in the 1990s and later, that delay shortened after National Government/Bangsa-Moro conflicts and tensions started to ease. In the last 10–20 years it has become much more common to see recently made Moro crafts available in Manila and other major centers.

Again, based on my discussions with Manila merchants, the types of gunong shown in the original post of this thread are likely of relatively recent manufacture. Those with a prominent central bulge to the grip, stacked horn/plastic/metal/bone elements, and horn (± metal inserts/pins) guards were stated to have been made from about the 1970s, and increasingly since the 1990s. It is possible that these informants may have been off by a decade or so, but some of them had been trading since the 1950s or 1960s, and knew what they were talking about. Based on the information I obtained, these multimedia examples are almost certainly post–1950 and most likely post-1960. [I say "almost" because hearsay is never absolute.]

Detlef, you are perfectly entitled to believe these types of gunong are older and come from the 1930s or 1940s. However, I have found no evidence to support such an earlier date.

Hi Ian,
Like drack I have a deep respect for your knowledge about Philippine weapons but in my humble opinion it doesn't make any sense to work blades meant for selling to tourists from laminated steel. And also the combination from precious materials with aluminium let me believe that these types of gunongs were worked around WWII and not much later.
But like you said, it's not easy to date Philippine blades.

Regards,
Detlef

[Sajen]

I would concur with you that this gunong dates to the 60s until 70s which was shown not long ago here but I think that the others here showed examples dates 10 until 30 years earlier.
But also this example seems to have a laminated blade so I guess I was made for use and not as a souvenir.

[Battara]

There are still kris and barong, etc. that are not made for tourists but for using, but they are different in style and in quality. The craftsmen are much fewer today than they were a century ago in general, though there are some very small number of exceptions.