Katipunan Dagger

[99luftbalut]

hi guys,
real neat site you have over here. been lurking for awhile, and been learning a lot of stuff. i'm not a re-eanctor, rather a collector of old philippine weapons. nothing is more satisfying than knowing that weapons that were revered by our ancestors are once again being taken cared of properly.
anyways, it seems like we have a lot of real knowledgeable people here when it comes to the history that we don't normally learn growing up. what i need is some feedback on a recently acquired dagger. it's a katipunan dagger, and what make it even more unique is the blade. the blade is made out of brass and for the life of me, can't figure out what is the significance of this. does anyone knows? on one side of the dagger the words "viva republica" is engraved. and so is the initial "M" in a very stylized form. also, a bouquet of some sort is engraved. on the other side of the blade, the word "muertos" is engraved, with the stylized letter "K" and what appears to be talahib grass. the sheath is made out of leather, with the toe and throat covered with silver. throat has the katipunan mark, a triangle with the sun and three stars. i would appreciate any feedback as to:

• why the use of brass for blade
  
• if the daggers were normally carried by officers
  
• what does the initial "K" and "M" stands for
  
• what are the significance of the bouquet and talahib grass
  

without further ado, here are some pictures




the dagger, full view


the initial "M"


the initial "K"


the Katipunan symbol on the sheath


"viva republica"


"muertos"


the Talahib grass


the bouquet

please enjoy the pictures. i realize that this is a national treasure, and rest assured that it is taken care of better than if it would go to a museum. i would appreciate if anyone over there in the philippines can pass this on to a scholar for further examination. maraming salamat...

[legionnaire]

Welcome to this forum 99lufbalut! Beautifu piece of Philippine Revolutionary dagger. Thank you for showing it.

My only poor attempt on guessing would be the M for Muertos and the K for Katipunan. There are other's here far more informed who would have more knowledge on this initials.

Philip

[99luftbalut]

thanks for the welcome, legionnaire!
my initial guess on those letters were Katipunan and Malolos. but like i said, i'm guessing. it would be nice to know the true meaning of these initials. i'm not sure if it's rank related. for all we know it could just be the original owner's initials as well.
i notice, while browsing, that bamboo leaves were prevalent on the officer's insignia. i'm assuming the flora decoration on the blades has something to do with that? also, upon reading some of the threads, the gold color (oro) signified certain rank:
smg.photobucket.com/albums/v477/jvsv/Living_History/Research/katipunan09.jpg
i'm sure if i clean the blade of this dagger, i can bring it up to shiny golden hue. a general's dagger then??? just thinking out loud...

[VeeVee]

What a precious item! Thanks for adding this artifact to our online "museum". Welcome to the forum. Maybe someone browsing the forum may eventually have information about the dagger.

[beancent]

I think this dagger is not a "Katipunan" dagger because of the seal on the sheath is the seal of the 1st Philippine Republic and is consistent with the "Viva Republica" inscribed on the blade. On the other side is inscribed, the word "muertos", meaning "death" of course to the enemy or anyone who comes in contact with the blade... in the name of the Republic.
I can't ascertain the use of brass. My only guess, if it's brass is because it will look more glamorous giving it an oro (gold) look. I'm almost certain that it belongs to an officer, but I'm not sure of the rank.
As for the K and the M, I do not know.
It is really a lovely dagger. Mga kapatid, your input please.

[legionnaire]

what do you think that would go for on EBAY? ;D

[99luftbalut]

thanks for your input, beancent! and i've been led to believe that whenever the seal of the republic is present, it's a guarantee katipunan dagger. i think you just ended a long standing belief among collectors, lol. i would appreciate it if you can reinterate on this subject even more. this is indeed very interesting.
btw, are you a collector as well? i see a beautiful moro kris as your avatar.

legionnaire, if you must know, it actually went relatively cheap. it also help since the seller didn't know what he had.

cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120193005220

[beancent]

No sir I am not. I just consider myself a student of history and a patriot. It's really a lovely dagger but it's quite hard to trace its history because there were no Philippine Republic "issue". Although they are not the same, we can see that they have the same style and form. This gave a positive result because, as we can see, daggers were custom made and it shows true Filipino craftsmanship.


Hen. Miguel Malvar



Hen. Tomas Mascardo



Hen. Cailles

[99luftbalut]

once again, thanks for your input, beancent, and esp. the pictures. first time i saw these daggers with the officers.

[beancent]

Here are photos of two daggers belonging to Gen. Pio del Pilar I took at the Pasig Museum. This is from the "Katipunan era" as del Pilar was in the Magtagumpay group (who sided with Magdalo) of San Pedro de Macati (now Makati City).

[99luftbalut]

beancent, i didn't know there's a museum in pasig. saan po banda sa pasig? last time i was home, i only went to the national museum, and from what i saw, they didn't have that much display regarding old filipino weapons. it was kinda disappointing. i will make it my priority to visit this museum next time i'm there. meanwhile if you would be so kind enuff to post more pics from that museum, i'm sure a few of us will truly appreciate it.


back to pio's dagger: it's unlike i've ever seen before in terms of it's shape. like i said beancent, as a collector, my view on katipunan stuff is totally revised, lol, and that's good. better to start all over again knowing we're on the right path, rather than be a hard head and stick to some false belief. the tabak's handle is non-typical as well. something to keep in mind. maraming salamat, kapatid..

[beancent]

Pasig Museum is located in the town proper of Pasig (Bo. Kapasigan), fronting the Plaza Rizal and the Immaculada Coincepcion Basilica. There are only a few displays in the museum as seasonal art pieces are being displayed. But there is an old rusted shotgun belonging to Heneral Brigada Valentin Cruz, a native son of Pasig. He led the charge on the 29th of August 1896, a Saturday, thus the term Nagsabado sa Pasig.