weird Barung

[Spunjer]

here's something that got my attention. a barung with a weird shaped blade. when i first saw it, i thought someone place the blade upside down, but looking at it closely, it is what it is...
i decided to clean the blade last night, and i was pleasantly surprise to find out that it has a shandigan blade. it's light, and balanced. i also noticed that there are these symmetric dots on the blade, most likely from the billet it was originally made from. haven't tried to see if it's laminated or not.

[Battara]

Looks like a variant of the sipput barong.

[Spunjer]

that initially crossed my mind, jose, but the handle and the blade shape throws me off. as far as the handle, it reminds me of another Sulu barung i have. see here:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=17619&highlight=unusual+barung

[CharlesS]

Almost seems like this one wants to be a 'barong-kung'. Certainly an interesting blade and pommel.

[Spunjer]

the more i look at it, the more it looks like it started off as a regular barung, then instead of having a curved blade, the panday decided to go straight across...

[Rick]

The little stones (?) set in the handle are an interesting touch I've never seen before .

[Spunjer]

wow, didn't even noticed that... thanks, Rick! here are some close ups. me thinks they're diamonds :rolleyes:

[Rick]

If by diamonds you mean Yakut, then I concur . ;)

[Spunjer]

haha, yup... CZ perhaps?
nevertheless, this is the first time i've seen a barung decorated with stones as well. odd in that i understand the owner wanted to jazz up his sidepiece, but i'm perplexed as to why he used jute as ferrule...

[Rick]

Probably rose-cut quartz; and possibly the jute wrap would recommend him as a serious fighter; a silver puunto would slip around quite a bit in a bloody hand .

[Battara]

These stones could be talismanic.............