Sword and Sheath
date: label: Accession Date
content: 26 Apr 1916
name: label: Collector
content: Mrs. Caroline E. Bates
label: Collector
content: Gen. Alfred E. Bates
label: Donor Name
content: Mrs. Caroline E. Bates
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Blade with straight back; belly wide toward point, narrow shank; circular guard as grip overlaid with silver plates, pommel a grinning head with upturned snout of repoussee silver. Scabbard wood with sheet iron bands; carved at mouth."
label: Notes
content: Catalog card says "Borneo?" however old tag with artifact identifies as Visayan, Philippine Islands, and the ledger book says "Philippines". Per Dr. Michael Heppell, Monash University, 5-1-2008, this is atypical for Borneo so the Visayan, P.I. identification is more likely correct. In Nov 2015, a group of researchers (Robert Shin et. al) noted the similarities between this sword and the swords from the Visayans in the collection, in particular, the style of the rounded, silver-plated pommel. There seems to be no evidence for the Borneo attribution (perhaps it was a clerical error?) and no reason to doubt the original "Philippines" attribution, so this record has been updated to place this item in the Philippines.
label: Notes
content: In July 2024, a group of researchers (Robert Shin et. al) noted that the collar of the scabbard may have been forced on upside down, as evidenced by the semi-circle pattern on the collar being similar to the leather piece and the wider opening of the collar being a similar width to the cross-guard of the sword.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 12 Jul 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Philippines
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Visayan (?)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 059652
label: USNM Number
content: E290489-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Sword/Sheath