19th June 2011, 08:44 PM | #1 |
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Moro Kris
been looking for a kamagong ball pommel for awhile. as far as beauty, they're pretty much up there with the junggayan stuff, i think. the unique talismanic symbols on the blade is a plus. what's interesting is an unusual mark by the elephant trunk which looks like the roman numeral 1. but most of all, it has a provenance.
a kalis given by HRH Sultan Jamalul-Kiram II to (then) Capt. Charles Howland |
19th June 2011, 08:54 PM | #2 |
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Hey....This is not a barung? ;-)
Beautifull kris Ron. you keep amazing me! Can you tell us some more about the provenance? Maurice |
19th June 2011, 09:50 PM | #3 |
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Nice piece - glad you finally got one........
Silver mounts look nice and shiny........... |
19th June 2011, 11:35 PM | #4 |
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Very nice kris! And a beautiful pommel.
Regards, Detlef |
20th June 2011, 05:03 AM | #5 |
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thanks detlef... of course jose, gotta bring it back to its glory days, hehe.
maurice, i'm still researching this capt. howland. i know he was stationed in luzon in the early days of the phil-am war, but don't know anything after that.. |
20th June 2011, 09:25 AM | #6 |
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Very nice Kris, the silver and the (ebony?) pommel match perfectly
Howland published an article about the philippine insurrection. If you can find a copy this would make a nice addition to the kris. Howland, Charles R. "The Philippine Insurrection of 1899: A Study." Infantry Journal XXX (Apr 1927): pp. 395-406. Per. Best Regards, Thilo |
20th June 2011, 09:43 AM | #7 |
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nice!!
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20th June 2011, 02:54 PM | #8 |
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thanks thilo! i will check up on that...
@ lorenz: lol, i keep looking for the "like" button for your post, but i just remember, this ain't facebook... |
20th June 2011, 03:33 PM | #9 | |
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20th June 2011, 03:55 PM | #10 |
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Ok I have one problem with a the sword the silver seems quite new to me?
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20th June 2011, 04:27 PM | #11 |
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Very nice kris, pommel, provenance and plaque!!!
Michael |
20th June 2011, 05:08 PM | #12 | |
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20th June 2011, 05:19 PM | #13 | |
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20th June 2011, 05:28 PM | #14 | |
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20th June 2011, 06:21 PM | #15 |
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CONGRADULATIONS ITS A BEAUTY AND UNUSUAL TO HAVE PROVENANCE SO THATS A BIT OF EXTRA ICING ON THE CAKE.
HOW LONG IS THE KERIS? PERHAPS THE BRASS PLATE WITH PROVENANCE IS VERY LARGE AND MAKES THE KERIS LOOK SMALLER THAN USUAL. I WONDERED ABOUT THE HANDLE WHEN I FIRST SAW IT BUT ONE PICTURE SHOWING THE IVORY LAID TO REST MY SUSPECIONS AS TO AGE. IT IS POSSIBLE A FANCIER HANDLE MAY HAVE BEEN PUT WITH A OLDER BLADE TO MAKE IT MORE WORTHY FOR PRESENTATION BUT IF SO IT WOULD STILL HAVE BEEN DONE IN 1902. |
20th June 2011, 06:56 PM | #16 | |
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I agree. These are really nice looking and few and far between. I don't usually carp over lost auctions, but my biggest regret is one of these I lost out several years ago. Even posted about it. Nice find. Good provenance. All around good deal. |
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20th June 2011, 07:57 PM | #17 |
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thanks mross... i think these types (kamagong and ivory dots) are a class by themselves. it screams strictly sulu.
vandoo, the blade is about 21 inches, average in size. the plate is indeed on the larger side. interesting in that the Moro Campaign in Mindanao was in full swing (in 1902). i'm wondering what this captain howland was doing in Sulu. as a captain at that time, i'm assuming with that rank, he's a company commander, unless he's some sort of an executive officer to garner a gift from the sultan himself. nevertheless, the kris came with some pretty good historical trivia with it. |
21st June 2011, 06:26 PM | #18 |
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Very NOice!
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26th June 2011, 08:50 PM | #19 | |
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well, seems to be moro stuff doesn't garner much discussion around here anymore, but just in case someone google Capt. Charles R. Howland and this thread pops up, i would like to add this information for future reference:
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27th June 2011, 01:20 AM | #20 |
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A very good specimen of history!
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27th June 2011, 02:15 AM | #21 |
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Again what is great (besides the bling ) is the fact that you have great provenance with it.
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27th June 2011, 03:07 PM | #22 |
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That's one thing about moro weapons: tho we know each are custom made to an individual, we may never know the name of the original owner. Unlike the yataghans and some other middle eastern swords where the name of the original owner were somtimes found on the blade, it's not so with the moro stuff. There's only two other moro weapo
ns i've seen and read that could be attributed to the original owner: a dagger that was given by Datu Piang to Webb Hayes, and a kris that belonged to Datu Natangkup that's in the National Museum in the philippines, as mentioned on cato's book. I do find the blade interesting in that if we go by what cato wrote, it's a mindanao blade... |
27th June 2011, 04:42 PM | #23 |
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There was also a lot of trade between Sulu and the Maguindanao............
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27th June 2011, 05:53 PM | #24 |
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That would have been my first impulse, jose, but i just find it hard to believe that all blades that are misplaced based on cato's categorization can be easily dismissed as a "traded blade."
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27th June 2011, 07:43 PM | #25 |
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Not saying all are trade blades but certainly there was trade between these areas. Note that for example Magindanao pieces do also have woven silver bands like the Sulu.
I also wonder if this could be a type of cross over of which Cato is not aware. We certainly need more information than Cato provides. Wish Cecil would come out with his book... I will say that the okir work on the blade and on the silver work does not appear to be Maguinanao or Maranao. |
27th June 2011, 11:31 PM | #26 | |
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27th June 2011, 11:34 PM | #27 |
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The first close-up on the asang-asang also seems to show that this is not the original clamp and perhaps not the original hilt.
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28th June 2011, 01:49 AM | #28 |
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Re pic #4 ; couldn't that just be where the patina was left ?
A shadow line from a not-so-complete clean ? |
28th June 2011, 02:24 AM | #29 | |||
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28th June 2011, 02:30 AM | #30 |
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Does this datu Piang gunong have a silver hilt?
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