Visayan/Moro Dagger - thoughts?

[Battara]

Originally Posted by kai

Hello Jose,

Congrats, this is ... ummm ... sweet...
Don't show it to your dentist though!



I'd love to see it stained with higher contrast.

IMHO this blade is not a Moro punal/gunong - the tip is much more upswept than I have seen in any Moro punal; also the crossguard doesn't look like Moro work and the scabbard bands are not typical either. While there may be some influence/inspiration from the neighbors' weaponry, I'm inclined to believe that this is genuine Visayan craftmanship all over.

Regards,
Kai

Kai you bring up some interesting points. I have seen a slight up swept blade on a Moro gunong before, though uncommon. You are right in that the guard is not typical Moro. The scabbard is gunong fashion, and the top band is found like this on older gunongs. I must admit that the bottom scabbard band by itself is atypical, although it is found as part of larger bands on some gunongs. Certainly Moro influence if not Moro outright.