here's an unusual kalis. been looking for one of these diminutive pommel/short blade for awhile, then
BOOM! this baby showed up.
it has a miniaturized ivory pommel that look similar to VVV's miniature kris (
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5834). odd thing about this is, the left side of the pommel has a complete appendage, whereas the right side looks like it cracked while it was shaped and instead of fixing it, it was stuffed with thin ivory pieces to cover the boo-boo. size-wise, the blade is only 16.5" long and an inch wide, an inch longer that VVV's, but i think these two came from the same era. the scabbard is in bisayan fashion, which was a latter addition. the scabbard itself is old, based on the hanger attached to the throat. the bottom shell wrap is missing. another odd feature is the surface of the blade. it looks like lamination, but then again it might just be imperfection on the the metal that was used.
while we're on this topic, here's what i don't understand: why is it that the elephant's truck/eagle beak on these so called archaics are similar that if we have to go by cato's book, they are all sulu? if these are indeed the percursor of the longer krises, then is it safe to say all krises were made in Sulu and some were imported to mindanao (highly unlikely), or were all the krises had similar elephant's trunk/eagle beak design? if that's the case, when did the Mindanaoans deviated to have their own design? or are these so-called archaic krises are just another type of the myriad designs the Moros of yore had in their arsenal?
discuss...