MORO KRIS - ANOTHER ONE

[tanaruz]

Hi all,

My father bought this just today (with another blade- in the picture).
Is this a Maranao or a Maguindanao kris (just like the one which I have posted with the yellow-dyed thread hilt?

Possible age?

Many thanks in advance,

Yves

[Ian]

Hi Yves,

This is another Maguindanao kris, probably last quarter of the 19th C or very early 20th C. The twine wrap on the hilt is similar to a recent example that you showed.

Ian

[tanaruz]

Hello Sir Ian,

Thank you.

Regards

Yves

[Battara]

Again Ian is spot on.

[tanaruz]

Hi all,

Thank you for the imputs.

An update:

We have this piece cleaned and properly restored. When we(with my father) came over to the restorer (who is also a jeweler)- we were informed that the ring (called punto on other blades or gutlang katik (Tausog nomenclature, but unnamed to other blades)- is gold. So we told the jeweler that it might be swassa- so what he(jeweler) did was tested it- and it is gold. According to him, it is graded between 14-18k!

Christmas would have come early this year for me and my father. Ha ha

Kind regards

Yves

[Battara]

Very nice. Then the top ring around the pommel was also gold or 14k gold thick plate (which I suspect your bottom ferrule is also).

[Ian]

Yves,

What a nice surprise! As I'm sure you know already, gold ornamentation on Moro swords was reserved for royalty or persons of very high ranking (such as panglima or powerful datu). It is very uncommon to find gold on a plain battle kris such as this one. The blade deserves a careful polish and etch because it is likely of high quality also.

Ian

[tanaruz]

Thank you all for sharing your insights.

One last question: how many luks/waves does this kris have? is it 12 or 13?

Keep safe,

More blades to be posted:-)

Yves

[David]

Thank you all for sharing your insights.

One last question: how many luks/waves does this kris have? is it 12 or 13?

Keep safe,

More blades to be posted:-)

Yves

It clearly looks like 13 to me. Both Indonesian keris and Moro Kris will always have an odd number of waves.
A very nice Kris that certainly deserves some further restoration. Just be careful not to take it too far. ;) of