Tenegre Panai sword

Tenegre Panai sword, Western Visayas, Philippines. Late 19th century

Details of this item

Price

-

Status

Sold

Region

South East Asia (Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines)
(Panay, Western Visayas, the Philippines)

Period

19th century

Materials

Steel, Iron, Wood, Horn, Rattan, Leather

Price

Sold

Status

Sold

Region

South East Asia (Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines)

(Panay, Western Visayas, the Philippines)

Period

19th century

Materials

Steel, Iron, Wood, Horn, Rattan, Leather

Description

The ‘Tenegre’ is a sword found in the Visayas region of the Philippines. This example seems to descend from Panay Island as the scabbard is similar to our listed ‘binagong’.
Tenegre’ swords are particularly heavy and often have thick blades which are meant for slashing mostly. This classical example shows a slightly tapering spine and is flat on side A , but concave on side B. The reinforced forte functions as a defense against enemy blades and protects the hand together with the wooden guard. The cutting edge runs down from the forte towards the tip and tapers towards a centimeter up to the spine. The blade is sharpened and show some slight traces of use near the tip.

The hilt is made of horn and depicts a demon or deity and is well carved with large fangs and pointed nose. It was attached to the blade with resin and is tightly attached to the wooden guard. The scabbard is made of two slabs of wood, held together by rattan and shows an abstract depiction of a crocodile emerging from the watersurface. It was meant to attach a cord to carry the sword to ones waist.

 

Tenegre Panai sword

Condition

Very good, slightest old pitting on the blade, missing rattan bounds, but all considered complete and in good condition.

Dimensions

Hilt length: 14.2cm

Blade length: 51cm

Blade spine thickness: 9mm

Scabbard length: 67.5cm

Total length: 71.5cm

Weight

940gr.

Comparable items

Provenance

French private collection

Literature