This Balaraw Mahaba (aka Itak) comes from Luzon and is almost 20" long. I obtained it together with a 19th century piece in the U.S. and guess that this is also a bringback of a Spanish-American/Moro war veteran dating late 19th or possibly early 20th century. I have left it as received since the well-tempered steel blade, carabao horn hilt, and especially the brass fittings show very nice patina (the pics have a blueish hue).
This is a very well balanced fighting blade, especially for Arnis or Escrima practioners. It feels very much alive and despite its momentum does great with counter-offensive moves. Actually, I like the feel of this piece better than genuine Barongs I've handled. However, I'm not practising any FMA from Luzon and it's also beyond the scope of my collection. Since I have my eyes on another piece (edit: make that 2 thanks to another forumite...
), I'm hoping to find a good home for it.
Length: 19.4" (49.2 cm)
Blade length: 13.15" (33.4 cm)
Blade max. width: 1.81" (4.6 cm)
Blade max. thickness: 5/16" (8 mm)
Hilt: 6.3" (16 cm)
I'm asking $150 for this rare piece. I'm sure this will appreciate nicely since I've seen only a few of these and most seem to be younger WW2 souvenirs. If you wish, I can polish the blade and/or give it a slight acid etch to bring out any lamination, temper lines, etc.
Regards,
Kai