Yakan Barung
 

wow! i wonder how much this barung went for:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6550977132

was keeping an eye on this, till i got home and found out the seller ended the listing. well, whoever bought it hopefully would post some clearer pictures in this here message board...

I'm curious too. I was debating on getting in on that and decided not to (good for me? :o ).

It would be nice to see better pictures. It does look Yakan, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Tausag either. The seller may be off one war, more likely 1910 or so. Only place close to the spelling given by the seller, that I could find: Silangkan, which is about half way between Jolo & Parang.

the punto on this one baffles me: why is it offset like that? is it one of those inch types?
the blade appears to be the shandigan type. overall it's a beautiful piece...

Yes and I agree ;)

You know....

...if you pop off the barung blade (which is a nice example of a shandigan type) and replace it with a classic scimitar-shaped pira blade....

...you'd have a really nice example of a classic pira.

hmmm....

makes me wonder if this is the right hilt for this sword...or rather...the right blade for this hilt :rolleyes:

You know what else looks off ?
The large step up between the hilt and the punto .
I think you may be on to something Zel .

You know, that is a good point Zel (besides the one on top of my head :D ).

Page 37 of Cato's book. Photo of a Yakan Barung, there's a step between the hilt and the abbreviated ferrule.

Definitely a yakan barung. I think Silanbeau referred to in the scabbard is Basilan - home of the yakans.

This could be a key indication on the alleged influence of the latter type yakan pira on the evolution of the shandigan barung.