Moro kris , to clean or not to clean ?

[tom22]

I recently acquired this moro kris , I'm not sure what region it's from etc , but there is quite alot of rust , I have taken the light surface rust off with some steel wool ,but im wondering should I go further with cleaning ,or is it stripping it of its age and use ?

[Battara]

Looks like a nice3 1920s Magunindanao kris. I would clean the silver - silver was meant to shine.

Also, if you cleaned the blade, re-etch it to have the laminations come out.

[Ian]

Tom, I agree with Battara. The silver should be cleaned, as well as the white metal on the scabbard (hard to say whether this is silver, probably not--could be nickel, white brass, or tin). The blade justifies a thorough cleaning and etching as there is already a nice pattern visible.

Nice kris. As Battara noted, an early 20th C example.

[Rick]

Interesting metal tab that is attached to the ferrule ring and laying on top of the gonjo .

Suppose it ever had a baca-baca stirrup once?
Sure looks like it did.

[Sajen]

Agreed with the others, clean it and try to give it a new baca-baca.