Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

RobT · 8th January 2023, 03:41 PM

Thank you kai, David, and xasterix. Your responses not only set my mind at ease but also served to restore any street cred that I may have lost with my wife. I am glad everybody likes the kris. I will clean the grey EvapoRust patina off the blade and etch it with 3% nital. I will either restore (or more likely) replace the hilt cording (but will leave the leather bands). Lastly I will replace the band that holds the baca baca to the hilt (the remaining stub appears to be copper, not brass).

kai,
I did do a magnet test on the baca baca. In the initial test the small (.3” [8mm] diameter), ceramic magnet was strongly attracted, so I concluded that the baca baca was ferrous metal. At the time, I was puzzled by the amount of rust on the blade versus the complete lack of rust on the baca baca and also thought it strange that the metal of the baca baca matches the look of the metal on the ferrule which is non magnetic (tested with the hilt removed from the blade). I Dismissed these two anomalies but your supposition that that the baca baca may be nickel silver led me to do another test. I got a strip of aluminum of the same width and thickness as the baca baca and laid it on the blade. The magnet was just as strongly attracted as it had been in my first test so it is obvious that the magnet was being attracted to the blade not the baca baca. Thanks for the heads up. Perhaps, after I really clean the blade and etch it, whether or not the ganja is separate will become clearly apparent. The blade certainly looks like it could be 19th century.

David,
Your experiences with museum curators and mine with many antique dealers are the same. As time has gone by, because of their disinclination to drink, I have become less and less interested in leading horses to water.

xasterix,
Using Cato’s classification, the elephant’s trunk area on my kris appears to be more consistent with Sulu (Tausug, Samal, Yakan etc) rather than Mindanao (Marano or Maguindanao). Am I mistaken? Also, what features make it “Lumad-appropriated”. Additional info is always good.

Sincerely,
RobT

8th January 2023, 03:41 PM	#5
RobT Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 456	Thanks Thank you kai, David, and xasterix. Your responses not only set my mind at ease but also served to restore any street cred that I may have lost with my wife. I am glad everybody likes the kris. I will clean the grey EvapoRust patina off the blade and etch it with 3% nital. I will either restore (or more likely) replace the hilt cording (but will leave the leather bands). Lastly I will replace the band that holds the baca baca to the hilt (the remaining stub appears to be copper, not brass). kai, I did do a magnet test on the baca baca. In the initial test the small (.3” [8mm] diameter), ceramic magnet was strongly attracted, so I concluded that the baca baca was ferrous metal. At the time, I was puzzled by the amount of rust on the blade versus the complete lack of rust on the baca baca and also thought it strange that the metal of the baca baca matches the look of the metal on the ferrule which is non magnetic (tested with the hilt removed from the blade). I Dismissed these two anomalies but your supposition that that the baca baca may be nickel silver led me to do another test. I got a strip of aluminum of the same width and thickness as the baca baca and laid it on the blade. The magnet was just as strongly attracted as it had been in my first test so it is obvious that the magnet was being attracted to the blade not the baca baca. Thanks for the heads up. Perhaps, after I really clean the blade and etch it, whether or not the ganja is separate will become clearly apparent. The blade certainly looks like it could be 19th century. David, Your experiences with museum curators and mine with many antique dealers are the same. As time has gone by, because of their disinclination to drink, I have become less and less interested in leading horses to water. xasterix, Using Cato’s classification, the elephant’s trunk area on my kris appears to be more consistent with Sulu (Tausug, Samal, Yakan etc) rather than Mindanao (Marano or Maguindanao). Am I mistaken? Also, what features make it “Lumad-appropriated”. Additional info is always good. Sincerely, RobT