Old large Gunong
 

This is the largest gunong in my collection so far. It measures 14 3/4” in total length. I am not sure about its age though.

I might place this in the 1920s-1930s. The later it got in time, the bigger they sometimes got.

Here is one of mine that probably belonged to a sultan. It has sheets of chased gold on the scabbard, made of silver and copper as well. Yes the pommel is ivory. The length in scabbard is 20 inches.

I forgot to mention that the okir on your gunong looks Maranao tribe to me. The blade is not forged like this but appears to be by stock removal. Nice burl wood scabbard and pommel.

Are the copper looking bands copper or swassa?

Hello Battara. I appreciate all of your inputs. The bands appears to be swassa. Regarding the blade I thought it was forged considering the waves are smoother compared to gunongs done via stock removal. Nice gunong you have there. Thank you for sharing.

Not Forged I Think
 

h0ll0wman,

I think that, had the curves been traditionally forged, the center ridge would echo the curves of the edges as in Battara's example.

Sincerely,
RobT

Rob you are on the money! The mid ridge should parallel the waves of the blade in a forged blade.

Some plain stock removal can be rough, but I've seen later kris and gunong have mono-steel stock removal with well polished blades.

Interesting. I learned something new. Thank you.

Interesting Tip
 

h0ll0wman,

You're welcome. I have read that the traditionally forged Philippine serpentine blades are "forged around a mandril" which accounts for the center ridge following the edge curves but "forged around a mandril" seems to me to be a bit vague and I would love to get a more detailed description of the process. What is also interesting about your gunong is the tip. Battara's example is what is normally found. The tip on yours looks more like tips found on Ilocano (often inscribed "Negrito") serpentine blades (see the thread "A Very Interesting Philippine Weapon" started by drac2k). I wonder if the folks up north are making their own take on a southern weapon form.

Sincerely,
RobT

Rob you bring up a very good point (all puns intended :D). The tip is not the standard Moro tip nor is the over all profile angle of the blade itself.

I Missed The Blade/Hilt Angle
 

Battara,

As you pointed out, traditional serpentine gunong have a sort of "droop" to the axis of the blade tip in relation to the hilt and none of the serpentine gunong I have ever seen show such a marked distal taper across the flat.
All the mentioned differences notwithstanding, h0ll0wman's blade appears not only to be well and carefully made but also purposely designed to be an effective weapon. We may well be seeing the beginning of a new variation on an old theme (perhaps produced by an entirely different culture than the one that created the old form). If this is the case, I feel that we will need to evaluate the new form by its own aesthetic not by the standards of the old form. There is precedence for this as, even traditionally formed gunongs have changed from their beginnings as small hideaway backups to large open carry daggers designed to be worn on a belt. We all accept this change without a problem as simply a reflection of different times with different needs.

Sincerely,
RobT