Yakan or Borneo barong?
 

This rather nice barong just ended by ebay, I was outbid by a well known and respected member. ;) :D Hope you will post better pictures later. ;)

What I really want to know, is this a Yakan or a Borneo barong? There seems to be mistiness about the origin ot this sort of barongs. :shrug:

Typically these horn ferrules are associated with the Yakan Moros of Mindanao and Basilan. Though this one seems to fit the its scabbard perfectly, it is not what I would expect a typical Yakan scabbard to look like.

see: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...t=yakan+barong

Barongs certainly found their way to Borneo. There is some info on that in the above thread as well.

Hello Charles,

thank you for comment! ;) Yes, I would agree but it seems that not all members are certain about this, see your own thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=Yakan

I think that the scabbard of the one in question could be a later replacement? :shrug:
It was for sure a great catch, congrats for the happy winner.

Regards,
Detlef

I had my eye on that one as well. I'm glad it went to a forum member.

I'm curious, would there have originally been a rattan wrap on the handle as well?

Have fun,
Leif

Hello Rafngard,

no, there never have been a rattan wrap.

Regards,
Detlef

Rafngard, just for clarity, most of those tribes in the Sulu area use silver sleeves, but on Basilan Island, the Yakan use a horn sleeve instead. Usually both silver and horn sleeves are without woven bands on them.

Good question though........

Thank you both for the clarification.

...so much to learn....

Have fun,
Leif

I was unaware that this was a seldom seen combination .

Rick, if you are referring to the woven textile wrap on your barong, that is not uncommon, even on some very fine barongs. It is generally seen or real "users" and not dressy pieces, though, because it is designed to provide extra grip, and less hand sliding from the silver ferrule.

Earlier, I believe they were referring to rattan woven over the horn ferrule seen in the originating thread. That is not known at least as far as I know and have seen on Yakan examples.....of course history has shown as soon as you make a "rule" about this or that, sure enough the rule will be broken! :shrug:

Thank you Charles . :)
Rattan, right .
I'll work on the reading comprehension . :o :)