Antique kalis for comment

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Ian

Age of this sword was discussed in the previous post.

I think the style of this one is atypical for Moro work. Its dress appears to be Sulu: the previous twin asang asang and the hilt style would suggest that. However, the blade is unusual. Although a kalis (i.e., waved blade), the waves are very shallow to the extent that sharpening of the edge has almost eliminated them in places. Shallow luk are fairly common on wider examples of kris mostly from the 19th and 20th C.

A central panel of twist core extends almost the whole length of the blade. This is unusual for Moro blades, but is seen fairly commonly on Malayan blades with such a central panel. Also, Malayan kris blades usually have no sogokan or "arrow head" structures. The presence of an odo-odo (mid-line ridge) running the length of the blade is also consistent with a Malayan blade.

I can't tell if this is a blade made by a Malayan, or a Malayan blade style made by a Moro. My guess is that it is a Malayan blade that has been dressed in the Sulu style. There seem to be a few of these around, but usually with straight blades (sundang).

Hullo Ian, thanks for the assessment!

Regarding the shallow-waved blade, this trend seems to be present in late 1800s Sulu-made kalis; I've had another pattern-weld kalis that also has shallow waved-blade and a horsehoof hilt, only heftier than the current kalis.

I would beg to differ regarding the Malay-made hypothesis. The gangya area features match provenanced Sulu-made kalis that I've disassembled in the past. I've observed that Malay-made keris sundang that were discussed elsewhere in this forum have a particular feature that sets it apart from the Moro-made, please see the red-circled parts (credits to Ashoka Arts and Charles for the attached pics).

That red-circled part highlights how, beyond the gangya separation line, the carved pattern extends further upward, along the slope of the blade and almost going vertical, as compared to Moro-made which only has one or two pattern sequences beyond the separation line, and isn't oriented in an almost-vertical style.