Barung from Baltimore
 

for years, i've been looking for a barung similar to this. not only are they hard to find, but when they do pop up, it's normally four figures...
well, my search is over. picked one up in Baltimore among European sabers. since it wasn't in the best condition, mr. seller decided to sell it for a song. whoever tried to fix it decided to use gorilla glue, and for some reason, decided to shave the ukkil at the bottom. fortunately whoever did it decided to leave a small part of the ukkil design intact.

so first order of the day was to etch it....
blade is high quality, most likely chinese made. it has a real faint chopmark on side.
pleasantly surprised to see patterns pop out. what got me is the somewhat similar to a katana's hamon.

so finally it's back to it's former glory. ivory fixed, blade etched and metal shined. even found an extra scabbard that fit. it's just a matter re-wrapping it with rattan binds. as a plus, i found out using Weiman Silver Polish on ivory brings out the luster...

Very nice Ron, congrats.
Nice restoration as well... :)

polished blades
 

good evening, in mind that till now every barongblade i encounterd in its original condition it was polished like hell. i have read that by certain weapons as barongs, kamilans and the moro-keris it was the pride of the maker to polish them up so highly as possible. in thirty years looking at barongs in the netherlands not one was etched.I do not understand where this idee comes from to treat these barongblades with acids?they are not kerisblades which where washed in a ritual with a purpose. in my opinion they where always clean, sturdy and glittering in the sun. Maybe someone knows more details. thanks iskender

thanks. normally, i'm not a big proponent of making up an ukkil just to make it complete. luckily, a set was left off close to the pommel and it's just a matter of repeating the pattern.

iskender, not necessarily. in the jungle, it's counter-intuitive to have a shiny blade. on some of the blades, they even have patterns, much like an indonesian keris. i'm posting one as an example. as far as barungs, kris and such, they weren't washed like the keris, although back in the old day, i was told that coconut oil was used to these blades. over time it etches the blade, bringing out the pattern. nowadays the most common acid that's used to bring out the pattern is your household vinegar...

patina of the bladestructure
 

thanks , it gives sense , that cleaning a patternwelded blade in coconutsapp will show the pattern over time . as for the aspect living in the jungle these people had a very highstanding culture with agriculture,fishing gold and ironwork, trade , the larger fightingknives and swords ,parang, piras.ect. where manly for war and robbery in large groups or families in a clanwar.It was surly also a big showoff item when these guys went to drink and gamble in the lokal hangoutplaces. i think , there was no intention of the moros to darken a blade for camouflage in the night.for so far a nice barong is always a enjoyment to the eye. thanks for showing your outstanding repair on a interesting nice piece ,complements for your skill iskender

Congrats with your find Ron!
For sure an amazing barong, and a very good restoration job!

I'm sure it is in good hands now! :-)

Kind regards,
Maurice

Great restoration Ron....back to its former glory is right! Terrific piece! I am amazed not only by the quality of the restoration, but the speed with which it was done.

Wow. Nice piece and excellent restoration. Congrats!

What did you use to etch the blade? I am guessing you did not use a resist?

Well Ron, this turned out to be a really nice piece!

Much better than when I saw it in Baltimore!



And Iskender, there are pictures of Moros brandishing kris and other weapons, with dark etched blades.

Harry, i used my wife's vinegar, lol. micro it for a minute, then add a couple drops of dishwashing soap. no harsh chemicals were used.

thanks Jose! i saw a lot of potential with this barung

What a fine score and addition to your collection Ron, especially after the wonderful restoration work. You did a great job of carving and replacing the missing ukkil as well as bringing out the pattern in the blade.

Best,
Robert

Very nice, Ron. Your collection continues to grow with more and more fine pieces. :)

Ian.

CONGRATULATIONS ON A GREAT FIND AND KUDOS FOR DOING SUCH A GREAT RESTORATION FEW COULD HAVE DONE SUCH A GREAT JOB. I WAS WONDERING IF THERE ARE TWO SEPARATE PIECES OF IVORY AND TWO PIECES OF HORN OR IF THE HORN WAS APPLIED AS STRIPS IN GROOVES IN THE IVORY.? ITS UNUSUAL IN EITHER CASE. NOW YOU GUYS WITH IVORY HANDLED MORO WEAPONS CAN WEAR THEM AT LOUISVILLE SHOW AND PLAY DATU :D PERHAPS I WILL JOIN YOU ONE OF THESE DAYS AS I HAVE A IVORY HANDLED KRIS. :rolleyes:

Hello Ron,

like all others have said already, very nice barong and great restoration at the ivory pommel. Would you willing to tell us how it was done? Which glue, reclacement piece ivory also, details of the new done carving and so on.

I personally would have polished the blade a little bit more but that is a matter of opinion. Great luck to find a matching scabbard. Congrats for this nice find and great job! :)

Regards,
Detlef

Hey Ron,

Yes, as Charles said, it looks great. Beautiful restoration, glad to see it brought back... and in appreciative, informed hands!

Well done!

Oliver

Iskender, this has been a question amongst collectors for a long time now. I am not sure if you have travelled to the Philippines or not, but it is difficult to tell exactly what is "original condition" of blades once they have left their native lands. Western collectors often polish blades because it is the way THEY think they should be treated. So i am personally uncertain what the general rule of thumb was for the Moro. If you search there are, unfortunately, very few photographs that show Moro warriors with their blades exposed. This is one of the few images i can find online and while the quality of the image is not that good it does seem apparent that this datu is not holding a kris that is in high polish. :shrug:

This kriss has clearly been (heavily) etched. The etching has exposed the tempered edges and the silver inlay towards the forte(and perhaps down the blade...hard to tell). Certainly a fuller has become more obvious. Also note that the baca-baca have been heavily polished to accentuate them against the dark etch. This photo has intrigued me for some time because it shows a blade that is far more heavily etched than we may consider the Moro norm. It's really almost more in line with an Indonesian etch, but no doubt done to highlight its other embellishments. It really makes me wonder if Moro blades might encompass the spectrum of bright to dark, depending on the bladesmith or the owner's desires.

Ho Spunjer, Amazing work, job well done all around!
Pretty gutsy using silver polish on Ivory, I've never heard of it.
Thanks for sharing.