Spanish-American War Period Barong & Kris for Comment

laEspadaAncha · 10th August 2010, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThePepperSkull

Very interesting. Isn't the horse hoof pommel (seen in the centre in between the top kris and the barong on the bottom) typical of sulu kris as well? Perhaps he spent some time with the tausugs?

Howdy Pepper... FWIW, what little reference material I have shows several (of this) hoof-pommel kris attributed to both the Maguindanao and Maranao...

Speaking of which, here are photos of the second kris... Curious to hear your collective thoughts. I would call this a "fast" kris - less mass & weight, quicker in the hand, and obviously smaller in size than the first kris. What intrigues me about this is the braided ring/band below the pommel. It has a rich, deep yellow color and bright luster, and I think it might be - might be - gold. I think it originally sat in the groove visible just below the pommel. The ring is open at the back, and I was able to get it to sit in the groove - in which it fit perfectly. However, it has sat where you see it in the photo below for so long, the rattan exhibited too much play when I moved it, so I returned it to the position you see in the photos.

Measurements (approximate):

Blade (measured from where the gangya meets the hilt): 19 5/8 in. / 49.8 cm
OAL: 24 in. / 61 cm
Gangya width: 4 in. / 10 cm

laEspadaAncha · 10th August 2010, 04:15 AM

Lastly, here's the barong. Blade measures approx. 15 in. / 38 cm with a 22-in. / 56 cm OAL. The spine of the blade measures 51/6 of an in. / 8 mm in thickness at the hilt. The color variation you see is just that - there is very little light pitting on the blade, isolated almost completely to a small area on the back-third of the blade on the obverse. I presume the line running (roughly) parallel to the edge is a hardened edge.

All comments welcomed and appreciated...

Rick · 10th August 2010, 04:52 AM

The short ferrule on this Barung would indicate possibly a Yakan origin ?

The second kris is, to me, a bit puzzling; is it Sulu or Mindanao ?

The blade seems to carry aspects of both .

mross · 10th August 2010, 02:46 PM

Intrestingly the horse-hoof exhibits many characteristics of a twist-core. The photo's don't seem to show it but...

laEspadaAncha · 10th August 2010, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mross

Intrestingly the horse-hoof exhibits many characteristics of a twist-core. The photo's don't seem to show it but...

If I was more confident in my etching abilities (I have a bottle of etchant solution from RadioShack purchased for this purpose that remains unopened to this day), I would be in the process of finding out...

Rick - thanks for the Yakan suggestion & another anthropological lead to follow. Don't know when Yakan people first started settling on Mindinao, but surely there must have been established trading amongst neighboring populations?

Rick · 10th August 2010, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laEspadaAncha

If I was more confident in my etching abilities (I have a bottle of etchant solution from RadioShack purchased for this purpose that remains unopened to this day), I would be in the process of finding out...

Rick - thanks for the Yakan suggestion & another anthropological lead to follow. Don't know when Yakan people first started settling on Mindinao, but surely there must have been established trading amongst neighboring populations?

Well also, if you're going to battle you collect as many like minded people as you can, no ?

Even relatives and visitors .

Battara · 11th August 2010, 12:06 AM

The other kris seems to have a Sulu blade with a Maguindanao/Maranao hilt - there was a lot of trade between the Maguindanao and Sulu. The blade also seems to be an older form, like the late 1700s.

Have the little piece of "gold" tested by a jeweler.

The barong - not looking Yakan to me, but you never know.....

10th August 2010, 04:15 AM	#2
laEspadaAncha Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 608	Lastly, here's the barong. Blade measures approx. 15 in. / 38 cm with a 22-in. / 56 cm OAL. The spine of the blade measures 51/6 of an in. / 8 mm in thickness at the hilt. The color variation you see is just that - there is very little light pitting on the blade, isolated almost completely to a small area on the back-third of the blade on the obverse. I presume the line running (roughly) parallel to the edge is a hardened edge. All comments welcomed and appreciated... Last edited by laEspadaAncha; 10th August 2010 at 04:47 AM.

10th August 2010, 04:52 AM	#3
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,376	The short ferrule on this Barung would indicate possibly a Yakan origin ? The second kris is, to me, a bit puzzling; is it Sulu or Mindanao ? The blade seems to carry aspects of both .

10th August 2010, 02:46 PM	#4
mross Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 478	Intrestingly the horse-hoof exhibits many characteristics of a twist-core. The photo's don't seem to show it but...

11th August 2010, 12:06 AM	#7
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,345	The other kris seems to have a Sulu blade with a Maguindanao/Maranao hilt - there was a lot of trade between the Maguindanao and Sulu. The blade also seems to be an older form, like the late 1700s. Have the little piece of "gold" tested by a jeweler. The barong - not looking Yakan to me, but you never know.....