Ebony and Ivory Pira (living in perfect harmony)

[Spunjer]

one of the least seen moro swords in cato's book is the pira. primarily a fighting sword, not too many specimens have embellished hilts. although i've seen some that has fantastic handle carvings, i haven't seen any that has the same pizazz as that of a decorated datu barung. well, search no more: the pira's answer to the flashy junggayan barung



handle made out of carabao horn embedded with ivory discs on all four sides. some are missing from the pic, but fortunately, they are all accounted for; it's just a matter of gluing them back to their designated cubby hole.






this must've been made for a Yakan datu. as you can see, the punto is silver, and what is neat, is a brass disc covering the area where the blade connects to the handle. i've only seen this feature on very high end krises. also, a palias (talismanic) hash mark on the spine.