A Nice Small Punal

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by drac2k

I recently picked up this item and based on the aluminum washers, I would guess that the punal is circa WW2. What I like about this dagger is the very fine(to me), engraving work and I was wondering if this is an older reworked blade.

Hi Drac2K,

A very nice example indeed and I concur with your age guess. The three shown examples from my collection with similar blade style have laminated blades and I bet that yours as well.
The ivory shows clear signs of age so you don't need to get a bad conscience that you have bought recent ivory!

Regards,
Detlef

[Sajen]

BTW, I prefer to call them gunong instead of punal, "punal" is the notation the Spanish colonists give them.

[Ian]

Hi Detlef,

Of the examples you show, the one in the top left is the oldest in style. The hilt, guard, and scabbard may well be pre-WWII. The blade style seems later, although it may be an earlier blade with later engraving. The other two look post-WWII to me, especially the mixed-media guards. I have found patina is not a very reliable guide with these knives, with discoloration returning fairly promptly after cleaning (and even using a sealant such as Antique Wax).

We have talked before about aluminum on Philippine weapons, and it is still my belief that this feature was not seen pre-WWII. I have yet to be shown a convincing example with aluminum prior to the 1940s. There may be a rare example out there, but I have not come across it (and I have been looking). WWII was an excellent opportunity for reclaiming aluminum from downed planes, and was the first time this fairly uncommon metal became available in reasonable amounts for indigenous use. Aluminum cans did not come along until the 1960s.

The multimedia hilts and guards, as shown in the original post in this thread, are relatively recent and have increased since the 1960s. Similar examples are still being made in the Lake Lanao region and nearby areas. Similarly, blades engraved with okir designs have become more prominent since the 1970s, and continue to be made. Although well crafted, many of these knives are now produced for visitors to the islands and customers more widely.

In the 1990s, the multimedia hilts were occasionally seen in the antique and cultural shops of Manila. By 2005, they were more common and appeared to be manufactured recently. They now appear on eBay with some regularity, having not been at all common there in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

[drac2k]

First, let me compliment you on your many beautiful gunong(I will try to refer to them as such from now on); some of your scabbards, especially the wooden one with the leather throat, would certainly indicate pre-WW2 construction as well as the quality of your blades which also denote an early elegance that I find lacking in recent production.
In regards to the use of aluminum in the adornment of Philippine weapons, I've often wondered about it being exclusively WW2 and after. In its early years, Americans found it to be a rare and exciting commodity; so much so that it tops our Washington Monument that was dedicated in 1885. Thus we have a highly prized metal, available after 1885, and a large American presence in the Philippines after 1889; if we Americans found this metal to be so special, why wouldn't the local Philippine warrior find this to be rarer than gold or ivory and want to incorporate it into his weapon?
I agree with Ian that most of these blades that incorporate aluminum are from WW2 and later, but I was wondering if there are certain rare exceptions?

[Battara]

The problem with aluminum is that it was a very difficult process to extract it from bauxite ore, so up to then it was almost a precious metal of sorts. Thus US and Germans used it for special occasions since it was rare due to the difficult process. Only later in WWII did aluminum become common and available to the world, including the Philippines from downed planes. This is why you see aluminum on Philippine weaponry from WWII on. It was no longer a very wealthy man's metal.

[drac2k]

I agree with you completely that the availability of aluminum during and after WW2, due to its vast availability was extensively incorporated into Philippine weapons, however, my question is, that with the great number of US Army personnel and the extensive Naval Fleets there, isn't there a possibility that some aluminum was there prior to WW2? Whether it was for nautical gear or to resist the prevalent tropical corrosion, both applications would have made it a prime component in that location, if even on an experimental basis. Many a file has walked off of US bases only to be reincorporated into a blade.
Why would one fabricate a nice gunong, composed of ivory, shell, horn, etc., and throw in 5 or 6 small aluminum washers and devalue the piece to modern-day collectors; surely the bladesmith could have used copper, etc., knowing that the piece would be more valuable. In the pieces that Sajen has and to a lesser degree the one that I have, I feel that the producer of these daggers valued the incorporation of aluminum far beyond its ascetic look.
I agree with 99.5% of what you have stated: I'm just asking if it is possible?

[Ian]

Originally Posted by drac2k

I agree with you completely that the availability of aluminum during and after WW2, due to its vast availability was extensively incorporated into Philippine weapons, however, my question is, that with the great number of US Army personnel and the extensive Naval Fleets there, isn't there a possibility that some aluminum was there prior to WW2? Whether it was for nautical gear or to resist the prevalent tropical corrosion, both applications would have made it a prime component in that location, if even on an experimental basis. Many a file has walked off of US bases only to be reincorporated into a blade.
Why would one fabricate a nice gunong, composed of ivory, shell, horn, etc., and throw in 5 or 6 small aluminum washers and devalue the piece to modern-day collectors; surely the bladesmith could have used copper, etc., knowing that the piece would be more valuable. In the pieces that Sajen has and to a lesser degree the one that I have, I feel that the producer of these daggers valued the incorporation of aluminum far beyond its ascetic look.
I agree with 99.5% of what you have stated: I'm just asking if it is possible?

Hi Drac,

I'm sure there was quite a lot of aluminum on Clark AFB prior to WWII. The military had many uses for it. However, it would have been in engines and other structural components that would have been hard to put in your pocket and walk off the base. I don't know if it is possible for the metal to have found its way into the hands of Moro craftsmen prior to WWII.

I can't speak to "why aluminum and not some other metal?" Earlier gunong were made with coin silver as a form of decorative white metal. Perhaps aluminum seemed a more exotic form of white metal for decoration purposes. Or silver became harder to find at a reasonable price when the silver content of coins decreased, so they turned to another white metal that polished brightly. I don't know, but the Moro are not the only ones to use aluminum on hilts in the Philippines post-WWII.

Regards,

Ian.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by drac2k

First, let me compliment you on your many beautiful gunong(I will try to refer to them as such from now on); some of your scabbards, especially the wooden one with the leather throat, would certainly indicate pre-WW2 construction as well as the quality of your blades which also denote an early elegance that I find lacking in recent production.

Thank you and I agree with you.

Regards,
Detlef