Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Philippine Insurrection Era Kriss ...or later??

Battara · 1st January 2013, 08:42 PM

What an unusual piece! I am leaning towards Maranao blade, but the bird is not what I was expecting for an American influenced piece.

The bird might be still during the American period, though I think it stands on it's own. The thing is the Moros had nothing to do with the Philippine Revolution so the connections with that movement in the north didn't truly exist. I think the bird is independent. Not unheard of since the bird motif is in Maranao work like the sarimanok and others.

Carving on the scabbard does throw me a bit. The okir looks Maranao but the outer profile of the wranga looks like later Sulu influence (perhaps Maguindanao work?).

With the hilt wrap (and everything else) I would hesitantly place this in the first quarter of the 20th century.

1st January 2013, 08:42 PM	#2
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,139	What an unusual piece! I am leaning towards Maranao blade, but the bird is not what I was expecting for an American influenced piece. The bird might be still during the American period, though I think it stands on it's own. The thing is the Moros had nothing to do with the Philippine Revolution so the connections with that movement in the north didn't truly exist. I think the bird is independent. Not unheard of since the bird motif is in Maranao work like the sarimanok and others. Carving on the scabbard does throw me a bit. The okir looks Maranao but the outer profile of the wranga looks like later Sulu influence (perhaps Maguindanao work?). With the hilt wrap (and everything else) I would hesitantly place this in the first quarter of the 20th century.