Luzon or Panay?

[Ian]

Rob,

I feel confident that we will find Philippine examples with guards that are pre-WWII, and even pre-1900, that meet the Bowie knife characteristics you defined.

As a starter, you will find small examples with guards in this thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18769

I'll keep looking.

[RobT]

Ian,

I went to the link you provided and found six knives with cross guards. Although it has a cross guard, I don’t think anyone would consider Robert’s example (made by Castro and Son) to be in any way be consistent what would be termed a Bowie (especially the yataghan-like blade). The same can be said of your Apalit knife with a cross guard (and the 1945 date takes it out of contention anyway). Obviously, Battara’s serpentine bladed short sword with cross guard doesn’t qualify.
This leaves us with three knives for consideration. The aluminum ferrule and cross guard on Rafngard’s knife makes a WWII vintage a pretty safe bet. Rafngard’s other example (which is completely consistent with the Philippine Bowie style WWII bring back) has a brass ferrule and cross guard so it could have conceivably been made prior to WWII but, on the other hand, there is nothing about it to say that it couldn’t have been made post WWII either and Rafngard offers no opinion on age.
We are now left your N Castro blade which, like Rafngard’s brass mounted example, is exactly the type of knife I am talking about. Unlike Rafngard, you do give an age estimate and say, “Judging from the writing on this one, which is in the Art Nouveau/Art Deco style, I would guess this one dates from 1920-1930.”
As a big fan of the Art Nouveau (and a lesser fan of the Art Deco) and as a former typographer, please indulge my brief didacticism because it is important to the topic at hand. Art Nouveau is based on the curvilinear organic line and the typefaces chosen echo this (take a look at Alphonse Mucha’s advertising posters). Böcklin is the archetypical Nouveau typeface. Art Deco, on the other hand consists of geometric, machine made shapes (both straight and curved) and the type faces (usually san serif) reflect this. Compare the work of Mucha with the poster for the ocean liner Normandie by Adolphe Mouron Cassandre and you will see that the zeitgeist behind Art Nouveau is totally different from that of Art Deco. As a matter of fact, Deco was a reaction against Nouveau which was considered old fashioned.
The type on your knife is Deco. The deco period is given as 1910-ish to the 1930s but it really didn’t end there. After the Deco came Stramline Moderne (and American Streamline) which was even more spare and extended the style into the 1940s. Still not done, the Deco sensibility carried forward and was democratized (or, depending on your point of view, vulgarized) as the Nifty Fifties. A 59 caddy is as Deco as it gets.
So, based on the typeface, your blade could have been made anywhere from 1910-ish to the early 1960s.

Sincerely,
RobT

[Ian]

I'm still looking Rob.

[Ian]

Rob, this one may be more convincing. It is a Spanish-Filipino knife with a blade of triangular cross-section. There is a small bone guard tipped with brass. The tang does not extend to the end of the hilt. It may have been made in the Visayas. Being from the Spanish Colonial period in the Philippines, it would pre-date 1900.

Blade length = 8.5 in.
OAL = 12.5 in.

I'm still looking through my collection.

Ian.
.

[RobT]

Ian,

Actually, not just very convincing, completely convincing if the age estimate is correct. I am posting a knife in my collection that has a nodding similarity to yours but that I had always assumed was post WWII. The blade length of mine (8.625”), is similar to yours but the OAL (14.5”) is greater than yours due to the Janus head pommel. No Sheath. Could it be that mine is a lot older than I thought? Both of our knives check all the Bowie boxes and the chisel grinds indicate that they weren't just a bespoke blades made by a Filipino smith following the instructions of a European or US client but rather a knife type that had been absorbed into the northern Philippine culture. Could the triangle at the base of the blade on yours perhaps point toward a Philippine independence group? That would further cement the 19th century date. I would love to see any other examples you (or anyone else) may have.

Sincerely,
RobT

PS: Your knife is a beaut.

[Ian]

Thanks for the comments Rob. Yes, this does seem to be a recognized style of Philippines knife. Triangular cross-section blades are also found on swords. I have one from roughly the same period that has an inscription, Recuerdo Republicano, at forte. There was some debate about what this actually meant, but the consensus was it probably stood for "Recuerdo el Republicano," or Remember the Republican. So there may be a link to the Katipuneros. The marks on the ricasso of the knife above are not specific to the Katipunan or the Philippines revolution AFAIK.

Blades of triangular cross-section were probably made in Manila and surrounding provinces during the Spanish era. I have nothing specific to point to for this notion, other than it was the major area of Spanish concentration and the nice knife I show above likely would have belonged to a rich Spaniard or perhaps a rich Mestizzo. The yellow metal areas appear to be gilded.

The blade on that knife is pretty convincing for being about 100+ years old. It has a nice patina and the "spidery" marks of an old high carbon steel blade.

[Ian]

Originally Posted by RobT

Ian,

...I am posting a knife in my collection that has a nodding similarity to yours but that I had always assumed was post WWII...

Rob, I do think this one you show is likely from the Spanish Colonial period. Hard to say without having it in hand. The small cross guard with proportionately large "balls" at each end and centrally is a likely Spanish decorative feature in my view. Also, the overall attention to detail in the finish seems to be high, and that was often seen on items made for influential Spaniards and Mestizzos. The same was true for the revolutionaries who led the First Republic.

I have other Spanish-Filipino colonial knives and will see what pictures I have of those.

Regards,

Ian

[RobT]

Ian,
If your knife is that early, I think mine is also ... which isn't hard to take.

To Everybody,
I have two last question about the "Philippine Bowie" style. Are they still being made and are they carried by the locals?

Sincerely,
RobT

[Ian]

Rob,

Here is another Spanish colonial knife from the Philippines. Unfortunately, the blade has been polished to mirror brightness by a previous owner. I don't think you would call this a "Bowie" but it does have a fairly large blade of about 10.5 in. and a guard. There is an unsharpened false edge along the distal part of the blade's spine.
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