T'BOLI KAMPILAN

[Ian]

Hi Yves,

When I first saw this scabbard I thought it had a "Palawano feel," mainly because of the rows of diamond shapes. The same feature is seen on scabbards of a Palawano bangkung. and badung, where these lines frame different segments of the carving. This is the closest resemblance I could find.

The attachments show enlarged pictures of your scabbard and comparison pictures from my Palawano bangkung scabbard and a badung (arrows) posted by xasterix. The angled rope holder on your example is different, however, and more suggestive of Visayan forms. Zamboanga is a another source of similar holders.

How and why a T'boli tok would end up in a Palawano scabbard, I don't know. Perhaps Zamboanga is a better option, being a sizeable city where the various styles may have met.

Ian.


P.S. The carved table is beautiful too.

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