A gunong for your comments (big pics)
 

When I saw this gunong on Ebay, it looked somehow more "real" than two others I have bought. Real meaning made for serious use, of solid materials. The scabbard was completely black, and is wood covered with what I suppose is nickel silver. It is missing one ring. The blade turned out to be pattern welded. It had file marks and some edge damage in 2 places. The guard and ferrule are very thick and nicely engraved. None of the metal seems to be plated. Overall length is 14" with a 9 3/8" blade. The blade thickness is .250" with a diamond cross section. The weight including scabbard is 1 pound.

Comments and observations are welcomed!

Steve Ferguson

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ongoverall.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...inscabbard.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ongreferse.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ngoverall1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...bardhanger.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...unongguard.jpg

that's very nice, Steve,& you did a great job cleaning it. definitely made for someone well off. wish there was more info on these. the only thing I can add is I'm confident some of these date back to the 19thC & some must of been made for women (not this one, of course). I have one that I can't even get two fingers around the hilt. maybe they became more popular with the ban on fighting swords.

W :eek: W! Nice puppy! Love the silver work. And to have pattern welding - happy land! This one is a little unusual in that it has 2 central okir bands. Nice job and nice okir work. (By the way if you want a replacement okir band, just send me an email and we can talk :D ).

On another note, yes Bill, these became more popular when blades were banned after the Moro wars.