Barong surprise!

[JeffS]

I bought this one off Ebay (top picture) since I've been looking for an older example with brass ferule. It was a good price so I picked it up even though it had some minor losses to the handle. I like this refined lines of this style pommel. After a light vinegar etch I was impressed by the pattern (second photo), reminds me of hairpin pattern on some Himalayan pieces. I then went to polish the handle (third photo) and found it wasn't polishing like brass and thought, could it be? Sure enough it tested as gold! This is what keeps me collecting!

[Gustav]

Very attractive piece overall, and the laminations are fantastic!

[Sajen]

Agreed with Gustav, very nice barung with nice lamination! Never before have I seen a barung with a gold alloy sleeve. Great score!
Regards,
Detlef

[David R]

What a great find! And a Suwasa (Suasa soeassa, swassa) mount as well, wow.

[Ian]

Good score Jeff! It is very uncommon to find a suassa punto on what is a rather plain barung. Likewise the presence of a hairpin laminated pattern in the blade. This is a gentry barung for sure. It does not appear to have been used (no edge nicks or oxidation/pitting) and the scabbard is pristine. This may well have been a gift or bride price from a distinguished Moro datu, and it was treated as an heirloom.

An afterthought. The gold could be a gold wash over a silver punto. Battara will know.

[JeffS]

Good score Jeff! It is very uncommon to find a suassa punto on what is a rather plain barung. Likewise the presence of a hairpin laminated pattern in the blade. This is a gentry barung for sure. It does not appear to have been used (no edge nicks or oxidation/pitting) and the scabbard is pristine. This may well have been a gift or bride price from a distinguished Moro datu, and it was treated as an heirloom.

An afterthought. The gold could be a gold wash over a silver punto. Battara will know. Thanks Ian. It is not plate (tested) but solid gold alloy between 10k and 14k. The color does not have as much red as I attribute to suasa, I wonder if the alloy contains metal that is not copper.

[David]

Thanks Ian. It is not plate (tested) but solid gold alloy between 10k and 14k. The color does not have as much red as I attribute to suasa, I wonder if the alloy contains metal that is not copper.
I am not challenging your word here, but do wonder if their could be some mistake in your testing. I have never heard of 10-14k gold tarnishing like that. I would think that the gold level in this ferrule would have to be much lower than that for it to tarnish. It is a wonderful score regardless.

[JeffS]

I am not challenging your word here, but do wonder if their could be some mistake in your testing. I have never heard of 10-14k gold tarnishing like that. I would think that the gold level in this ferrule would have to be much lower than that for it to tarnish. It is a wonderful score regardless.

I was surprised by the degree of tarnish too but don't have experience with old ~50% gold alloy. I used an acid-based tester (JSP). Would love to get feedback and further discussion on metal testing and hear about experience with gold alloy patinas. The way the tester works, for those not familiar, is you scrape the metal to be tested on a fine grain stone to create a streak. The acid is calibrated to different gold purities: 22k, 18k, 14k, 10k. The acid is dripped sequentially on the streaks. If the metal dissolves you move on to the next until the metal does not dissolve. In this case 14k dissolved but 10k didn't. Therefore the conclusion between 10 and 14k. The picture below is from the internet but shows what the process looks like. Perhaps I am overconfident that it was not gold plating, but here is my thinking - I removed the ferule which is fairly thin and used the bottom surface for consistent long gold streaks on the stone which reacted evenly to the acid. Unless very thick I don't think gold plating would react so evenly and I would expect the underlying metal to be apparent.

[Battara]

Thanks Ian. It is not plate (tested) but solid gold alloy between 10k and 14k. The color does not have as much red as I attribute to suasa, I wonder if the alloy contains metal that is not copper.

There are different types of swansa with differing amounts of copper and silver. I agree - not plated. Still looks like a high level of swassa with lover amounts of copper and perhaps higher amounts of silver than usual.

Great catch and congratulations!