Ron:
All good points. With respect to a V-ground blade, one does see those coming from Cebu and that might be a possibility. I agree that the basketry on the hilt looks more Moro rather than Visayan, and the banati wood on the hilt (not obvious in the pics) would suggest a Moro origin.
As I saw your picture of a more typical barung blade adjacent to this mystery one, I was reminded that the barung blades from Sabah/North Borneo have this clipped appearance, are less convex on the spine, and are narrower than most Moro barung. Their blades are also frequently engraved with designs. Do you think this might be from Sabah or even Brunei perhaps?
Ian.
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